Chapter 12 — Salthill

Neglect and emotional abuse

The impact of this professional approach to the work in Salthill was reflected in the 1974 Visitation Report, which was entirely different in tone from those that had preceded it. In particular, the Visitor noted the effect of Br Burcet’s arrival: His [Br Burcet’s] coming to St Joseph’s last August has been a tremendous boon and blessing. He is the Manager’s guide, philosopher and friend in creating an improved atmosphere of care and relationship between the children and the Brothers. His Kilkenny Course in Child Care has brought a new dimension and an added empathy to his work and, slowly but surely, the communication barriers are being removed, the children are becoming much more friendly, open and amenable and are relating much better with one another and with the staff.

The Visitor remarked: The ending of ‘the old order’, to which Remi was accustomed for so long, has caused him some upset and paradoxically this may well be a blessing in disguise for him. He is now doing a much more taxing round of duty than was his wont for quite some years and despite his overt yearning for the good old days when boys were made toe the line in quasi-military fashion one senses that deep down he is slowly and reluctantly coming to appreciate that the new approach has something to recommen it.

It was difficult to completely remove the decades of institutionalisation that had operated in Salthill. In 1978, Mr Graham Granville noted in an Inspection Report for the Department of Education that, despite the group home units, the nature of the accommodation made for a very institutional feel, lacking in a homely atmosphere. He complimented the staff on their efforts despite the obstacles. He reiterated his concerns in his Inspection Reports of the early 1980s. He found many facilities requiring modernisation and saw the construction of new custom-made group homes as the way forward.

The Visitation Reports touched on this aspect of the work of the Institution throughout the four decades that an internal primary school operated in Salthill. In general, the Visitor seemed satisfied with the standard of education provided in the 1940s, although from year to year a particular Visitor voiced a concern.

In 1940, a Visitor remarked, ‘The boys are on the whole docile and easily managed and show average intelligence in class’.

The payment of salaries to the internal national school teachers saw the number of Brothers assigned to the School increase by two, and a marked improvement in the standard of education was noted in 1941.

However, the 1943 Visitation Report was critical of the standard of education in the higher classes. The Visitor found that the boys in 3rd, 4th and 5th standards were ‘quite unable to read the lessons in our Readers which are in use’ and he cautioned that ‘if proper steps are not taken some of these boys may leave the school in a semi-illiterate condition’.

The 1958 Report offered what was probably the explanation for the poor standard in the senior classes. It observed that the teacher in charge of infants and first standard was not efficient. The Visitor noted: He is partially paralysed and his writing on Blackboard is nearly illegible for an adult to read and hence it must make no impression on the boys of the age group he has. I examined these boys in Christian Doctrine, English Reading, and tables. It could not be said that the boys were hopeless but they were certainly retarded for boys 7 years of age. It would also seem that the poor teaching they get in this class tells on the whole Primary School. According to age groups they would all be retarded by one year.

He recommended that the teacher be asked to retire, even if this meant that the Brothers had to supplement the difference in his pension due to his early retirement.

In March 1959, the Visitor noted that the teacher mentioned in the 1958 Report was still in the School: ‘The poor man is physically unfit to take charge and teach boys’. As he was a registered teacher, the Brothers had difficulty removing him. The Visitor believed that the boys’ schooling got off to a bad start under this man’s tutelage.

During the Visitation of March 1961, the Principal pointed out that on average, one-third of boys in each class were below the normal standard and said that the majority of boys who fell into this category came from County Homes. The Visitor noted that the Brothers had still not succeeded in getting rid of the teacher in charge of the younger boys..

In 1973, due to dwindling numbers, the boys were transferred to the local primary school.

It is difficult to see how a teacher with the disabilities as outlined above could have given the boys in Salthill any kind of basic education. He was listed as a teacher in the School for 25 years.

In their 1972 report to the Department of Education, the Irish Countrywomen’s Association were critical of the education offered in Salthill: 2.6 We recognise that education is one of the most important formative influences on the children with whome we are concerned, whether they are deprived or delinquent. All children in Residential Care or otherwise in care, should be educated to the ultimate of their capacities ... In the past five years no boy in St Joseph’s, Salthill ... has got either Intermediate or Leaving Certificate. As far as we know, no child ever got this far ...

Although contact with families was recognised as essential as far back as 1936 when the Cussen Report was published, Salthill, like many other industrial schools, was reluctant to allow children home for the full period recommended by the Department, which had been extended to 31 days in 1943.