Chapter 7 — Artane

Sexual abuse

This observation is scarcely correct, as the correspondence shows that the Superior had brought Br Herve into his office in September 1937 ‘and abused him and rated him roundly for his kissing of the boys and his fondling of them. On that occasion he promised to give it up for good’. However, Br Reynolds persisted in his view that they had no evidence prior to 1938.

Br Reynolds was also reluctant to accept that the reference to ‘May God grant that the consequences are not worse’ referred to the involvement of the Gardaí or other authorities: That’s your interpretation is all I am saying ... Off the top of my head that would not have been my interpretation of that. But I am not saying that you are not correct in that.

The Superior did not incur criticism although, in his correspondence to the Provincial, he admitted that he was aware of Br Herve’s activities for years but did not even report to his own authorities until events forced his hand. Instead, the Provincial sympathised with him.

The letter from the Provincial to Br Herve shows awareness of some of the damage that sexual abuse could inflict on a child.

In conclusion: The School was driven to take action only when there was a threat to expose the behaviour of Br Herve. The Provincial expressed sympathy for, rather than criticism of, the Superior. The offending Brother was considered to be an unfortunate man who was ‘more to be pitied than censured’. There was relief that worse did not happen, having regard to the known habits of Br Herve. The Congregation was aware of the harm Br Herve was inflicting on children in his care, but did nothing to alleviate it or to ascertain the full extent of the damage. Sending a Brother with this history to a residential school for boys was reckless and dangerous, and showed a disregard for the safety of children in care.

Br Gustav began teaching in the O’Brien Institute in the 1920s. Three boys made written statements in which they alleged that ‘they had been immodestly handled’ by him on a number of occasions. These written statements no longer exist. The matter was considered so serious that it was referred to the General Council for consideration. At his trial before the General Council, the Brother ‘admitted immodesty in each case stated but not as gross as specified’.

The General Council issued a Canonical Warning to Br Gustav and imposed as a penance the daily recital of the Miserere for six months. A further condition was his transfer out of Dublin, with the injunction that he was not to return without the leave of the General Council. It was conceded in the minutes of the General Council meeting that this Brother had been dealt with very leniently: This lenient treatment of [Br Gustav] is largely due to the man’s age and, although it was not told him, to his very low condition of health.

After these events, the Brother was transferred frequently from school to school in the north of Ireland, spending on average two years in each, before being assigned to Artane for a short period prior to his retirement to Baldoyle. No allegations were made against him in Artane.

No dispensation or expulsion was sought in respect of Br Gustav. Although ill-health was suggested as the reason for leniency, he remained a Christian Brother until his death some 19 years after the charges were brought.

Br Leroi60 was accused of sexually abusing boys in Artane in 1944. His personal card retained by the Congregation stated, ‘Evidence of immoral relations with boys in Artane came to light’. This Brother sought a dispensation from his vows and left the Congregation in 1944, and the Department of Education service history records Artane as his last teaching post.

Br Laurent, who gave evidence to the Investigation Committee, said: ... he came to Artane the same year as I was there. We arrived at the same time. The outgoing [Superior] said to Br Leroi ‘you are not welcome here’. Probably some accusation had been made about Br Leroi and because of that then he was sent to Artane.

The second case involved Br Tristan61 who worked in the kitchen. He was found to have sexually abused a number of boys following complaints made by the boys themselves. He was tried by the General Council in 1944 and was unanimously adjudged guilty. When the charges were laid against him, he: denied “some” of the matter of each charge, admitted “jostling” or “wrestling”, said he had “no bad intention” and “never lay on any boy” in the back-store so often referred to by boys. He admitted “tricking” with several boys, denied “touching” a boy’s face or body.

The minutes recorded that the abuse had occurred frequently over a long period of time. The boys had given detailed written statements, which indicated long, continuous and frequent wrong-doing on the part of this Brother.

These statements were not discovered to the Committee and would appear not to have survived in the records of the Congregation. The General Council voted unanimously to expel him. He appealed the decision to the Apostolic Visitor, who advised him to seek a dispensation from his vows, which he duly did. The dispensation was granted and he left the Congregation in 1944.

Br Tristan had arrived in Artane in the early 1940s under a cloud of suspicion from Carriglea Park Industrial School, where he had served on the staff for a year. From the records, it appears that he had been given a Canonical Warning because of ‘an incident’ that arose during his time in Carriglea before he was sent to Artane. No details are provided as to the exact nature of this incident. It also appears that he was transferred to Carriglea from a training college under suspicious circumstances. Again, no details are given of his time in this college, where he was stationed during the 1930s, or what warranted his removal. The minutes of the meeting of the General Council, where the details of this Brother’s trial in the Artane case are recorded, stated that he: ... was also reminded of the causes of his removal from [the training college] and Carriglea – a Canonical Warning had been given him re Carriglea incident.