Chapter 14 — John Brander

Anja was taught by Mr Brander in her final year in primary school. She was 12 at the time. In the course of her evidence, she described a terrifying atmosphere in the classroom. She said that for failure at lessons she would receive six or seven slaps on each hand. She also described how he would strike her on the head, resulting in loss of balance. She described how her head or hands could be bruised following a beating. He was more severe in the administration of corporal punishment to girls than to boys. At the time, she felt that the boys were fortunate as she didn’t understand that they were being abused sexually. She described how the boys would stand at the front of the class, reading between Mr Brander’s legs, but she was not aware that he was fondling them.

After one particularly severe beating, her father wrote a letter of complaint to Mr Brander. The following day he slapped her again and commented: ‘Are you going to tell your daddy now were you slapped today?’ She replied that she would not.

She said that one reason why parents were reluctant to complain was that Mr Brander’s brother-in-law was a foreman or manager in a large local business where some of the fathers worked.

Mr Brander’s departure from Walsh Island NS

The Garda discovery furnished to the Investigation Committee outlined the sequence of events leading to Mr Brander’s removal from the School.

Rumours were circulating in the locality that Mr Brander was molesting boys and being cruel to girls in his class. The mothers of two pupils approached the parish priest, Fr Colm,9 in an effort to have the parents’ concerns addressed. In their Garda statements, both said that he took a note of what they had said and indicated that he would look into the matter.

Mr Rothe gave evidence that Fr Derek10 (the local curate at the time) advised him in the early 1980s that Fr Colm had consulted with The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin about the problem.

One mother stated that she learned about a week later that Mr Brander was to be transferred. The other mother stated that Fr Colm visited her and advised her that Mr Brander was suspended. Both stated that Fr Derek, the local curate, was annoyed at the manner in which the matter was handled, and said that he would have handled it quietly had they approached him. Around this time, both women were contacted by the Gardaí but neither wanted their children to make statements.

In the course of the Garda investigation in the mid-1990s, Fr Derek was interviewed. He said that no parent approached him about Mr Brander’s conduct, and the memorandum of that interview continued: The first he knew about problems in Walsh Island NS was when Fr. [Colm] told him that he was going to the school to get Mr [Brander] to resign due to ill treatment of a boy. He, Fr. [Colm], had a document prepared for Mr [Brander] to sign. Mr. [Brander] was gone from the school overnight. Nobody in Walsh Island NS wanted to talk about the situation. I.N.T.O.11 came down to see Fr [Colm] ...

Despite the circumstances of his removal, Fr Colm, the parish priest and School Manager, furnished Mr Brander with a glowing reference: Mr [Brander] B.A. H. Dip in Ed. has been Principal Teacher in a four teacher school in this parish for the past three years. I would find it impossible to speak or write too highly of Mr [Brander’s] complete dedication to his professional duties. To visit his classes was a refreshing experience and his splendid qualities of head and heart were reflected in pupils, parents and the people of the community. His attention to even the tiniest detail was indicative of his love for and devotion to his work ... [He] engaged in extra curricular activities of inestimable value to the pupils, the youth, and the parish in general. Mr. [Brander] at his own request and greatly to my personal regret leaves to devote his wonderful gifts to the Secondary branch of Education. He brings with him my gratitude for his wonderful service to the pupils and ... the parish, my best wishes for his continued success in the higher branch of education ...

Fr Colm ended his letter with an expression of his willingness to be of any further assistance to Mr Brander if he should need it.

It has been suggested by a number of people that a Garda file opened at the time of the investigation in the late 1960s has disappeared. The Committee has been furnished with an affidavit of discovery sworn by a Detective Superintendent as to the extensive efforts made to locate any documents regarding this investigation. He concluded that any such documents would have been destroyed in the normal course pertaining at that time. Presentation Convent Castlecomer Co Kilkenny, September 1969 – July 1975

Following his removal from Walsh Island NS and armed with his reference, Mr Brander took up his first secondary teaching position in Castlecomer.

Three witnesses gave evidence of his behaviour while in this school: Sr Giuliana,12 former school principal; Mr Stegar,13 a young teacher who was very involved with Mr Brander in organising the games; and Mr Gadd,14 a junior teacher at the time.

Sr Giuliana in evidence described how, with the introduction of free education in the late 1960s, gradually more boys enrolled in the school. Mr Brander was employed by her predecessor, Sr Donata.15 She was not aware whether he furnished a reference for the position.

Sr Giuliana became principal of the School soon after and at some point after that appointed Mr Brander as vice-principal.