In 2009, the Irish Government published the Ryan Report, an expansive inquiry into child abuse at residential institutions for children run by the Catholic Church between 1936 and 1999. The report prompted a seismic change in people's attitudes to the Catholic Church, and childhood, in Ireland.
Industrial Memories helps make further sense of the Ryan Report by revealing the distressing scale and systemic nature of abuse during this period, bringing users closer to the voices and experiences of people inside the system, and allowing a fuller exploration of the Report.
The Ryan Report & the 20th century
1930s
| 1936 | Cussen Report published, critical of the institutional system of childcare |
| 1936 | 1.98% of all children under 14 in the care of the State |
| 1937 | Irish Constitution |
| 1939–45 | World War Two (the ‘Emergency’) |
1940s
| 1944 | Children’s Allowance introduced (restricted to collection by father) |
| 1946 | Population in the schools peaks at 6,660 children |
| 1946–48 | Publication of Father Flanagan’s critical report on select industrial schools |
| 1945 | Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders August 15. |
| 1945 | World War II officially ends on September 2. |
| 1947 | October – The sound barrier is broken. |
1950s
| 1951 | 6,272 children in Industrial Schools |
| 1952 | Adoption Act begins to lower numbers in Industrial Schools |
| 1954 | Letterfrack changes from Industrial to Reformatory School |
| 1953–54 | Introduction of free ante-natal healthcare |
| 1957 | European Common Market established with the Treaty of Rome |
| 1958 | TK Whitaker's Economic Development plan published |
1960s
| 1961 | 6,173 children in industrial schools |
| 1960–69 | Increased economic prosperity leads to decrease of children being sentenced to Industrial Schools |
| 1961 | Construction of the Berlin Wall |
| 1962 | Pope John XXIII calls the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church |
1970s
| 1970 | Kennedy Report published. Report's criticism leads to the closing of several large single-sex residential institutions |
| 1970 | Artane, the largest and one of the most abusive boys’ schools, closes |
| 1970 | Health Boards established; move to social work model and away from institutionalisation |
| 1971 | 1,653 children in Industrial Schools |
| 1973 | Marriage bar removed for women working in the public service |
| 1974 | Mothers allowed to collect Children’s allowance |
| 1974 | Minister for Health given primary responsibility for child care |
1980s
| 1980–89 | Investigations at Cabra school identify problem of physical abuse; these problems persist into the 1990s |
| 1981 | Hunger Strikes begin. Bobby Sands and nine others die |
| 1984 | Ann Lovett dies after giving birth in a religious grotto |
1990s
| 1991 | Child Care Act replaces Children Act of 1908 |
| 1995 | Salthill, the last Christian Brothers Industrial School, handed over to the Western Health Board |
| 1995 | Dear Daughter about Goldenbridge, directed by Louis Lentin. |
| 1999 | States of Fear RTÉ series, by Mary Raftery |
| 1999 | Taoiseach Bertie Ahern apologises for institutional child abuse |
| 1990 | Marital rape defined as a crime |
| 1992 | The X case ruling allows women to travel to the UK for abortion |
| 1996 | Ireland's last Magdalen Laundry closes |
2000's
| 2000 | Establishment of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse |
| 2009 | Publication of CICA (Ryan) Report |
| 2000 | Direct Provision system of institutionalising asylum seekers established |
| 2004 | Citizenship Referendum restricts Irish citizenship |
| 2012 | Referendum Relating to Children |
| 2014 | Tusla Child and Family Agency established |