Chapter 15 — Daingean

Introduction

The conditions that led to the re-establishment of Daingean was not a decision that was taken without considerable debate, since the move involved taking some 200 boys under Garda escort to a new residence nearly 60 miles away, and much further from the boys’ own homes.

Glencree was in a state of disrepair from the beginning. An internal memorandum written by Mr Derrig,1 the Minister for Education, dated 10th July 1939 began: I visited this place recently and was very disappointed to find it in such a bad state of repair. I have come to the conclusion that it is very doubtful whether, even with large expenditure, the present buildings can be brought up to a satisfactory standard.

Within the same memorandum he suggested that substantial reforms needed to be made in the area of teacher training, provision of practical training and the setting up of a visiting committee.

A subsequent memorandum elaborated on this theme. Mr Derrig asserted: the basis of the present system is defective and possibly will continue so, so long as maintenance and improvements as well as payments to staff have to be made out of the capitation payment. ... My personal view is that if we are going to make a change from Glencree we shall have to face up to the question of providing a new institution properly equipped, and we may also have to provide special aid for staffing.

At this time the thinking within the Department of Education was for drastic change, with the need for such measures an urgent priority. The Minister for Education, Mr Derrig, had paid a visit to Glencree and had ‘formed the opinion that it would be difficult to make the buildings suitable for their purpose’. Moreover, the memorandum added, ‘The management did not impress the Minister as being efficient or satisfactory’.

The Department had gone so far as to consult the Presentation Brothers about the matter, but the urgent need for economy forced the Department to ‘defer consideration of the proposal to change the Reformatory to new accommodation and management, and to try to get the premises at Glencree improved as much as possible’.

The outbreak of war in 1939 meant all plans had to be suspended. The Resident Manager of Glencree wrote to the Department, acknowledging the appalling conditions there and the debts owed by the School to the parishes and to the Oblate Congregation totalling over £3,200.

These appalling conditions were confirmed by an inspection carried out for the Department, which made it quite clear that remaining at Glencree was not an option, and that it would be more economical in the long run to provide suitable accommodation elsewhere: roofs, staircases and floors required replacing; the roofs of the workshops leaked and one section of the first floor was too dangerous to be in use; walls were falling outwards and would have to be rebuilt; the bake house was ‘dark, dirty, and thoroughly unhygienic’; washbasins had only cold water supplied ‘from a small hole in the water pipe placed above the basins’; the only plunge bath was an old iron one in the corner of the building; the whole ‘ablution system’ was obsolete, unhygienic and a danger to health; and the lavatory accommodation was described as ‘appalling’.

With the necessity of finding a replacement for Glencree, various options were investigated and, finally, a meeting was held on 17th November 1939, attended by the Taoiseach, Eamon De Valera (who was also the Minister for Education), the Provincial of the Oblates, the Manager of Glencree and the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education. Fr Giancarlo,2 the Resident Manager of Glencree, put a temporary solution forward that was to become a permanent one, which was that accommodation might be found at Daingean, if other provision could be made for the students there at present. Daingean was held by the Oblates on a 99-year lease from the Government. The surrounding farm was owned outright by the Congregation. Fr Giancarlo explained that the buildings at Daingean had been considerably improved and the former dormitory accommodation remained. Since the premises at present housed about 170 students and staff, he thought that should be sufficient for the Reformatory for a time.

The question of accommodating the Reformatory permanently at Daingean was considered and a number of difficulties were discussed, such as the distance from Dublin and the complications that arose because additional buildings would need to be erected by the Government on land that it did not own.

As regards the objection of the distance from Dublin and the difficulty for parents visiting the boys, Fr Giancarlo contended that this would have the advantage of preventing undesirable visits (from boys’ former companions) which took place at present at Glencree. He also asserted that parents would not mind travelling by bus to Daingean occasionally, and suggested that a system of permits might be arranged which would possibly entitle them to reduced bus fares. There is no evidence that such a system was ever established.

Additional buildings were necessary for the permanent accommodation of the Reformatory at Daingean. There was a problem for the Government in erecting these, because they did not own the farm, and the Provincial suggested that his Congregation might dispose of the farm to the Government in order to overcome this. The other difficulty mentioned involved the provision of alternative accommodation for the Oblate students at present at Daingean, and the Provincial undertook to make enquiries and consult his Council to see what could be done.

Mr Eamon de Valera, who was both An Taoiseach and Minister for Education from September 1939 to June 1940, visited the buildings in November 1939, and the decision to move from Glencree to Daingean was made.

On Tuesday 6th August 1940, Garda Transport Authorities transported 205 boys from Glencree to Daingean. The Garda escort was in civilian clothes. The mattresses and bedclothes were transported in a large open truck on the same day. Fr Giancarlo had sought tarpaulin covers from the Gardaí to cover the trucks but this could not be provided. We are not told if the sun shone down on this unusual convoy.

Far from being what the Department of Education wanted, ‘a new institution, properly equipped’, offering ‘... better accommodation and under different management’, the Reformatory moved from one old barracks that was always in need of extensive repairs to another old barracks in need of extensive building and upkeep, and under the same management.