Chapter 7 — Artane

Physical abuse

The Investigation Committee heard evidence from complainants about Br Beaufort. A witness recalled an example of his temper, when he suffered the kind of serious bodily harm apprehended by Br Noonan. Br Beaufort thought that the boy was laughing at him in class and responded impetuously: he jumped straight at me, picked me up, threw me like a dog around the place. I hit desks, hit the floor. I landed after some time on the floor. The commotion of boys screaming had brought Br Quintrell,10 who was in 11 school, which was the next school, he flew in and pulled him off. I know I was unconscious, and I know to God that if it hadn’t been for him coming in, I do not think I would be here today, in all honesty. The attack was vicious. Moments later, he was apologising, crying.

Physical abuse

At the time of this incident, the boy was recovering from injuries to his hand sustained from an accident in the carpenter’s shop, which was confirmed by the infirmary records. The wounds opened in the assault by Br Beaufort. In addition, the witness complained of lacerations and injuries to his left eye and neck. Some of his teeth were broken, he lost one tooth on one side of his mouth and two on the other. He was brought to the infirmary after the attack and when he had quietened down he was taken to the dormitory. Until this incident he had had no difficulty with Br Beaufort, whom he described as friendly.

Another witness, who was in Artane from 1945 to 1950, claimed that Br Beaufort oscillated between kindness and impetuous violence.

In conclusion: Notwithstanding the opposition of the Superior General to excessive and intemperate punishment and clear guidance given to Brothers, the problem persisted. The Superior General expressed himself in the restrained, admonitory language of pastoral counselling rather than issuing direct instructions. In circumstances where every Brother in Artane was given a leather for corporal punishment of the boys, it is difficult to see how these excesses could be avoided. Restricting the leather to the Disciplinarian would have had a direct effect on preventing capricious and excessive punishment, and Br Noonan could have directed that this be done.

In 1946 a former resident of Artane (from 1929 to 1935) began to correspond with the Department of Education regarding conditions at Artane. Initially, his complaints related to the primitive sanitation system in operation in the Institution. Then, in a letter dated 6th November, he wrote: It is 11 yrs since I was in Artane and I dont forget one minute of it, neither do others, the injustices done to others and myself, I will see; wont happen to others: Boys beaten, under the Shower Baths by Staff Mr Byrne,11 Boys heads beaten on the Handball Alley Wall by Bro Acel12 And a Drill Master who used say “do it where you Stand” when a Boy ask to go to the W.C.

In a memorandum dated 8th November 1946, the Assistant Secretary in the Department of Education agreed with the Inspector that no action was required in response to this letter. No response was sent to the former resident and no comment was sought from the Resident Manager.

The attitude of the Department of Education to a serious complaint was dismissive. No attempt was made to establish the veracity of the complaints.

A Visitation Report in the late 1930s was critical of a Brother for his free use of the ‘slapper’, which was a shorter and thinner strap than the leather. The Visitor noted that the boys were: well disciplined and I am happy to be able to say that there was no evidence of undue or severe corporal punishment. I was assured by practically all the Brothers that there is very little corporal punishment indulged in. I did come across one case of the free use of the slapper. This was in the class room of Br Maurice. He gave about 16 slaps one after the other. I walked in just at the end. The slaps were not severe and the effect could only help towards demoralising the poor lads. I had a word with Br Wiatt14 and asked him to help Br Maurice to establish his control without having recourse to the useless method of indiscriminate slapping. But it is indeed satisfactory to find that there is very little corporal punishment and that in recent times there has not occurred any instance of undue severity. Br Eliot15 is Master of Discipline and is doing very well in this position. He is very anxious to do his best and he is succeeding very well in his exacting duties. There is still too much reliance on the slapper and not enough on personal influence. The only member of the staff who has succeeded in getting along with the boys without having recourse to corporal punishment is Br Dennet.16 His personal influence is very great, and his single-mindedness and truly Christ-like attitude in his dealing with his boys is having a marked effect for good on them.

In view of the content of this section of his report, it is hard to understand how the Visitor could have been assured that there was very little corporal punishment indulged in. The comment that it was ‘satisfactory to find that there is very little corporal punishment’ was contradicted by the criticisms he went on to make. He noted that only one member of the staff had ‘succeeded in getting along with the boys without having recourse to corporal punishment’, and there was ‘too much reliance on the slapper and not enough on personal influence’. Furthermore, his comment, ‘It is indeed satisfactory ... that in recent times that there has not occurred any instance of undue severity’ implied that there had been such instances in the past.

At the very least, this report showed there was a problem regarding the use of corporal punishment in Artane. Only one Brother could maintain discipline without using the leather.

Br Eriq worked in Artane for less than a year in the late 1940s. He left in April, not August, which was the usual time for Brothers to be moved. Br Eriq had previously worked in Tralee in the late 1930s, where three consecutive Visitation Reports were critical of his severity towards the boys. A full account is contained in the Tralee chapter.

The Inspector of Industrial Schools wrote, in July 1949, asking for details of an incident involving Br Olivier, and the Resident Manager replied three days later: Last year [the mother of a boy] happened to visit the School the very day her second son ... had a black eye. She mentioned the matter to me, and I investigated it there and then. Apparently the Brother losing his temper in class gave the boy a blow on the face with the palm of his hand, and next day the skin was discoloured. (Of course the discolouration disappeared within a few days.) I spoke to the Brother implicated (Br Olivier) and made it clear that such should not happen again. And as far as I know nothing has happened since then.

Br Olivier gave evidence to the Investigation Committee. He did not recall being reprimanded by the Resident Manager for using excessive violence, but he thought that an elderly teacher had told him to keep his temper in check.

Br Olivier served in Artane in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He said that all Brothers were issued with a leather strap to maintain discipline, and commented: The danger with that is this; that it could be used excessively ... depending on the type of person you were. You could be somebody with a short fuse like myself, I have to admit I had the short fuse, and there would be times perhaps when ... you would be inclined to use it. You see it was the only armoury you had ... In fairness I would say though that the Rules of the Congregation laid down, I am just thinking back and I want to be fair to the Brothers as well, rules are there maybe to be broke, but it was specified that corporal punishment should never be used for failure in lessons, that type of thing. ... I could go a week, a month, without ever giving a slap to a fella, it could happen. I am not trying to make myself out that I am a saint or that I wouldn’t use it, I certainly would indeed, and I’m awfully sorry ...

He said he did not adhere to the rules regarding corporal punishment very often. He did not recall the rules being brought to his attention while in Artane. He had never seen a punishment book: I could have slapped a fella maybe on the face or something like that. I might even hit a fella a punch in the back. It could have happened.