Chapter 7 — Artane

Introduction

These boys were ordered to be detained in Artane by the courts for reasons of inadequate parental care, destitution, neglect, truancy or the commission of minor offences. It is clear, however, that poverty was the underlying reason why children were sent to Artane, whatever the statutory category grounding the detention.

The reasons for committals during the period from 1940 to 1969 were as follows:

Improper guardianship	School Attendance Act	Destitution	Homelessness	Larceny	Other crime
1374	1045	720	227	229	90

Other admissions to Artane were insignificant in number in the 1940s but they increased substantially later. Health Board and voluntary admissions increased from 13 in the 1940s to 113 in the 1950s, and 136 in the 1960s. These admissions were not included in the number of children in respect of whom a capitation grant was payable by the Department of Education. They were either privately funded to attend the School or paid for by the Health Board, and in the latter years they accounted for an additional 50% of boys in Artane.

During June 1969, the 211 boys who were still detained in Artane were moved out and the Institution closed on the 30th of that month. 120 boys were discharged to their parents or godparents or placed in jobs. Of the remainder, 26 boys were transferred to Ferryhouse, and the others went in small numbers to different institutions around the country. These dispositions were agreed after much discussion and many meetings between the School authorities and the Department of Education.

In the years leading up to the closure, and particularly during the late 1960s, there was a dramatic decline in the number of children who would potentially have made up the population of industrial schools. Legal adoption, fostering and boarding-out were among the principal reasons for the decline. In addition, attitudes of the public and a number of State officials had become unsympathetic to industrial schools as a means of caring for deprived children. Improvements in economic and social conditions and benefits also contributed.

Artane, as the biggest industrial school, was most vulnerable to these developments. The Superior was a member of the Kennedy Committee that began work in 1967 and was expected to report in mid-1968. He was privy to the thinking of the Committee and was able to inform his colleagues in the Congregation that the Committee was going to recommend the closure of Artane.

Br Reynolds, Deputy Leader of St Mary’s Province of the Christian Brothers, said at the Phase I hearing that it was clear at the time that the Kennedy Committee would recommend the closure of industrial schools. The Opening Statement stated: it was becoming clear to the Congregation that the future of Artane Industrial School was uncertain and had been under discussion from the middle nineteen fifties. Eventually, in or around 1967 the Congregation took a decision in principle to close the institution.

Br Reynolds added that he thought that the decision ‘could have been taken in 1967’, with the timing being left to the Provincial to decide. On 23rd January 1968 the Provincial informed the Minister for Education that the School would close on 31st August of that year. At a meeting attended by the Minister in March, the Brothers agreed to a deferment until 31st December 1968, to give the Department time to arrange alternative accommodation for the boys. One further extension until 30th June 1968 was subsequently agreed. The Cussen Report and Artane

The beginning of the relevant period of this inquiry coincided with the publication in 1936 of the Cussen Report into Industrial and Reformatory Schools.3 The Congregation had made a written submission to the Cussen Inquiry, with a detailed account of the system of care and an unapologetic defence of all aspects of the Institution.

The Congregation was worried that the Cussen Commission would call for changes in Artane, and there was relief when that body’s visit to the School went off successfully and the Brothers were reassured by their belief that the Commissioners seemed pleased by what they saw. The Brothers knew that talk of change was in the air and they were hoping to persuade the Commissioners to approve the existing state of affairs. Br Strahan, who wrote the submission for the Congregation, concluded it with the request that Artane should remain as it was: Whether judged by the greatness of its successes, or by the small proportion of its failures, or by the world-wide fame it has attained, we submit, Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, that not only should Artane be allowed to stand untouched, but that it should be cordially and generously supported.

The submission responded to the suggestion that the School was too big, by arguing that it had succeeded beyond all expectations and that: in its largeness lies its chief merit and advantage; for it is its size and its multiplicity of activities that afford exercise to those following the various trades, etc., within its own precincts. It is only in a large school that such a variety of trades could be established to meet the immediate demands of the Institution.

Acknowledging that ‘the air has become charged with reports of even drastic changes’ because of recent legislation in England, Br Strahan emphasised the differences between the countries and the fact that the new ideas were as yet unproven. He wrote that the legislation dealt ‘with a different people, a people of different temperament, of different religious opinions’.

The submission painted an idyllic picture of life in Artane, describing in detail the facilities for education, training, recreation, aftercare and the living conditions of the boys as being in all respects of the highest quality. No significant faults were admitted. However, in spite of the writer’s zeal in defending every feature of the Institution, something of the impersonal nature of the School crept into the submission. The mealtime routine was described as follows: After mid-day we hear a bugle-call and see the assembling of the clans from farm and shops and band room and knitting room, as they form in companies before dinner hour. We see them walk in perfect order, but with free step, and await in silence till the presiding Brother pronounces Grace. We see them sit down in perfect silence until given leave to chat ...

Some issues that were of real concern to the Commissioners in the Cussen Inquiry were discussed very favourably in the Christian Brothers’ submission, but it transpired when the Report was published that they were anything but convinced. The recommendations made by the Cussen Commission rejected some important parts of the submissions that the Congregation had put forward. The proposal to split up Artane into four units, the criticism of education, and the dissatisfaction with supervision and aftercare of children leaving Christian Brothers’ industrial schools went directly against the arguments in support of the Institution. Some other recommendations were not specific to Artane but were no less applicable and were also implicitly adverse findings.

The Commission concluded that the School was too big by a factor of about four, and recommended that it should be divided. Paragraph 72 of the Report stated: In our opinion the best results can be obtained only where the number under any one Manager does not exceed 200 pupils. We think that in no case should the number exceed 250. It is necessary in this connection to refer specifically to the case of Artane Industrial School, which is certified for 800 boys and where there are on an average about 700 boys. It is in our view impossible for the Manager in an Institution of this size to bring to bear that personal touch essential to give each child the impression that he is an individual in whose troubles, ambitions, and welfare a lively interest is being taken. We strongly recommend, therefore, that Artane should be divided into separate Schools, the pupils being segregated according to age and attainments. Each school should contain not more than 250 pupils under the control of a sub-manger, whose appointment and removal should be subject to the approval of the Minister ...