Chapter 7 — Artane

Physical abuse

The Brother who prepared the Congregation’s response simply stated: Brother Vailant was the disciplinarian in Artane for part of my stay there. He was a strict disciplinarian. It is possible that there was some folklore about him and the manner in which he used to punish the boys. However I never saw him giving any boy an electric jowler. The leadership team have confirmed to me that save for the complaints furnished to the Commission there are no records of complaints of abuse of any type made against Br Vailant during the relevant period.

There was no mention in this response that the Brother had previously admitted that there was an element of truth in the allegations.

Br Vailant, who had two spells in Artane in the 1950s and early 1960s, stated that he felt the boys were angry against the State that committed them, against their parents who did not care, and angry against the Brothers as the ones who were keeping them there. ‘In their eyes’, he explained, ‘we were seen as types of jailers’. He admitted he used the leather strap for misbehaviour and then added: ... I think I would have to put my hand up and say that I also used it for failure in lessons, even though I knew that that was discouraged. If you ask me why I would use it for failure in lessons I would say to encourage people to get on and to learn something.

Br Vailant was asked about the reference to him in the Visitation Report quoted above, which noted that he was ‘exceeding the permitted limits of punishment’. When asked if could remember the rebuke, he replied: I think I could say that I was never aware that that was written about me in a Visitation Report ... I don’t actually remember that [the Visitor speaking to me]. He said that I was too severe. Well, I would say now that I probably was, or at least that I was too strict, or maybe too demanding.

He was asked if he exceeded his own standards and regretted it. He replied: I would say yes ... I would say instead of using a leather I actually, on a number of occasions, struck boys with my hand on the face. I would say that was, you know, not correct, that that was being severe and that maybe is what the Provincial was referring to ...

Physical abuse

Under questioning, he added: ... I became aware that I was doing things that were not strictly right or not strictly necessary ... Like using the leather too frequently, or using it for failure in lessons, or in work. Also, using my hand instead of what was recognised as a way of punishing.

— The Visitor should have dealt effectively with Br Vailant’s severity when it came to his attention. The failure of a proper system for monitoring punishments administered by Brothers has left a number of ex-staff members of Artane with feelings of guilt and remorse for what occurred there.

Shortly before this Visitation, the Provincial wrote a letter to all Brothers to express his concern about levels of corporal punishment. He wrote: In a Circular issued in January 1957 I asked the Brothers of the Province to avoid as much as possible the use of corporal punishment in the schools. For some time after the issuing of that Circular there appeared to be good reason to believe that the request was being carried out. More recently, however, the leather has come back into frequent use in at least some schools. This is a matter for sincere regret. As I have already stated frequent recourse to the use of the leather indicates a bad tone in the classroom. It may make the lives of the children unhappy and nullifies much of the benefit of their Education. It is to be hoped that, in time, wiser counsels will prevail and that the use of the leather will be reserved for cases in which it is really necessary for the purpose of correction.

He did not say how he knew ‘the leather had come back into frequent use in at least some schools’, but the Visitation Reports and the complaints referred to above may have played a part in informing him. What is clear is that, by the standards of this senior Christian Brother, the leather was being used too often and in circumstances where it was not really necessary.

A boy’s grandmother wrote to the Superior General in late 1962 complaining about the way her grandson was treated during his time in the Institution. The original letter of complaint is no longer extant, but the content is evident from an internal letter from the Christian Brothers’ Provincial Council to the Superior General: The Council here has considered the letter you handed into us from a Mrs McCarthy33 making a number of accusations against certain Brothers in Artane and an attack on Artane in general. We consider Mrs McCarthy a very dangerous woman and one who could do a lot of harm. We think she should get a reply stating that the matter will be looked into as soon as possible; That the Superior of Artane is away at present and will not be back until the end of September. You however will be able to give her the best answer to satisfy her and cool her down. With the Superior of Artane absent at present it would be difficult to get accurate information at present concerning all the statements Mrs McCarthy makes.

The Superior General replied to the grandmother’s letter in November 1962. His letter discussed efforts made concerning the boy’s care after he left Artane. He also stated that the School Superior offered the boy a free place in the secondary school, which he declined. He went on to respond to the grandmother’s complaint: As to his troubles at school, he evidently received punishment, but it was not in the manner or in the spirit which you seem to suggest. In this he may have exaggerated things to you, and your affection for the boy may have caused you to see them in a more serious way. As far as we could discover there was no unkind feeling towards him, as all felt that his make-up was not that of the ordinary boy ...

In February 1963, Mrs McCarthy brought her grandson to Artane to discuss with the Superior his difficulty in keeping jobs and to see if he could help in finding employment. What happened in the course of this meeting is in dispute. The grandmother gave her version of what happened in a letter written later that month (26th February) to the Minister for Education: I could not believe my eyes, without word or warning the Superior, closed his fist + struck the boy a most brutal blow on the side of the jaw, saying to him why wont you work. He then said in the most deliberate tone to him, you are mental the boy said I am not. He said you are suffering from a mental dicease, this he repeated about five times; every drop of blood had left the boys face from the blow, which had sent him staggering to the other side of the Office, all the unfortunate boy could say was wh... and his voice went. I was so shocked and dazed from the scene. I was not much better than the boy. I could not think straight. However Bro Colbert34 happened to come in just then and the Superior said look who we have here. He then left the Office. I followed him outside the door and told him it was the yrs of ill treatment of that Kind had the boy the way he was, and told him to get the boy medical and mental treatment ... He was removed to St Brendan’s on The Sat evg 9th February.

The grandmother turned to a clergyman named Canon O’Neill for assistance with her complaint. He wrote to Monsignor Barry,35 who passed on Canon O’Neill’s letter to the Superior General. After meeting with the Superior in Artane, the Superior General, Br Mulholland, wrote to Monsignor Barry on 26th February 1963: Further to my note of 23rd February I have now made full enquiries into the allegations in Mrs McCarthy’s letter. I have ascertained that she is a mental case with a strong antipathy against Artane School and that she is given to exaggeration in all matters she speaks or writes about. It is easy to note that she is a very dangerous type of woman ... Now just to give you an example of her powers of exaggeration I asked the Superior of Artane about the blow he was alleged to have given the boy on the 7th of February. He said he was talking to [the boy] in presence of Mrs McCarthy about the number of jobs he was in and of his leaving each of them without cause. To impress matters on [the boy] he gave him a tip of his hand and that is what is described as a staggering blow. 36 That will give us some idea of what to believe of the allegations made in the rest of the letter. As far as I could ascertain there is no truth in the accusation that boys are taken out of bed at 10p.m. and beaten “for any minor fault”. It must be only hearsay on Mrs McCarthy’s part. We all know how boys are inclined to exaggerate the slightest happening.

On the same day, the grandmother wrote a long letter of complaint to the Minister for Education, which will be discussed presently.

Monsignor Barry replied, accepting the ‘unreliability and untrustworthiness of her complaints’ and continued: I am sorry that you have been put to so much trouble but unfortunately, these sort of people give us all a lot of trouble and their complaints have to be nailed. I am happy to be in a position to reassure Canon O’Neill that the story as he got it was completely without foundation.