Chapter 7 — Artane

Emotional abuse

It was 1960 before the division was finally made, and in the Visitation Report for that year it was noted: As an aid to discipline in this large Institution the boys have now been divided into two groups – the boys over 14 and those under that age ... it was time this move was made. Of course it means doubling the number of Brothers on duty.

The Congregation’s Opening Statement reveals the relationship between boys and staff over the years: 1940s – average number of pupils – 802 1950s – average number of pupils – 620 1960s – average number of pupils – 286.

The staff quotas provided by the Congregation are as follows: 1940–1947 – 16 to 20 Brothers and up to 6 lay staff 1947–1960 – average 14 Brothers 1960–1966 – average 11 Brothers.

The evidence of the Brothers and former Brothers in relation to staff ratios was that a small number, between six and 10 of the younger Brothers, carried the main burden of teaching and supervision of the boys. This led to the situation that Brothers who were directly involved in these duties were over-worked and often stressed. It is not clear why so many Brothers living in Artane were not directly involved with the care of the children.

The Investigation Committee heard evidence from many former pupils and staff from Artane with regard to the size of the Institution. A former pupil, in Artane from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s, described: The first night, I was put in the ward, I couldn’t believe it. It looked to me huge. All the beds in a line and I was put into this bed and I was crying. I was told to stop crying and I couldn’t. I was smacked [by the Brother who was on at nights] to say if you don’t stop crying you will get another one ... I couldn’t sleep ... I was woken up and I had wet the bed.

A former Brother described how there was no preparation or training in Marino for dealing with the large numbers in Artane or for the type of boys that were sent there. Artane was run like the Army, everything ran like a clock. The boys marched for breakfast, marched to the dormitories, other than the free play in the playground everything was structured. The size of the School and the numbers during his time (800 boys) did not leave much room for understanding the boys.

Another former Brother who served in Artane in the early 1960s said: the numbers were very large and you had to have your wits about you to keep an eye on everything, you know, to make sure nobody was in danger. You would want to keep the smaller children away from bigger so they wouldn’t be run down or hurt or anything.

He recalled that, in his time, two Brothers would be keeping an eye on over 400 boys.

Most of the Brothers who appeared before the Investigation Committee complained about the numbers in the School.

One Brother was asked if the system made it difficult to be compassionate with individuals. He replied, ‘I would say so, yes, I would agree. I mean it was numbers, large numbers you were dealing’.

A Brother in Artane in the 1950s, whilst saying that there was a good atmosphere between the 800 boys and the 25 to 30 Brothers, said that it was ‘mass production ... It was impossible to do anything worthwhile with them’. He felt that the Brothers on the ground were interested in the children’s welfare and many of the children did well, but it depended more on their background and make-up. When asked why nobody spoke out about the impossibility of looking after 800 boys, he replied: I was going to use ignorance ... It was lack of knowledge or lack of insights by the Brothers ourselves, by headquarters and that. I mean 800 – there were 800 people that weren’t wanted and that nobody else would take them.

A Brother who was there in the late 1950s was angry about the situation: You had in Artane at that time 600, or whatever, pupils. You had, effectively, 16 or 17 Brothers, the teaching Brothers on the staff, who had to teach them full time ... So I would be asking today, ‘Why was it that I was expected to do the impossible in Artane by my country from 1955 to 1959?’ ... the system survived because of the dedication of the few. And I suppose we are paying for that today.

He went on to say: Some of them [the lads] unfortunately who had problems and maybe who should not have been there at all, they should have been in some other institution that could care for such people like that ... at that particular time we weren’t as aware ... about the importance of having places for people like that who need specific care and specific attention and specific help.

A Brother who served a total of nine years in Artane between the mid-1940s and mid-1950s explained: ... the new kids coming in who would be lost, you know, really some of them were lost really. 825 kids. Divide that by five and that’s 160. 160 kids in a dormitory was very formidable ... It was cruel ... That was the total responsibility of two really. It was really the two in the dormitory made the kids or developed a kind of relationship with them.

He was still angry at the enormity of it all. He railed against the system that allowed such numbers: 825 kids were imposed on us. No. 1 by the Superior, No.2 by the authorities, by the Archbishop of Dublin, who wanted the kids sent to Artane, not Letterfrack or to Galway because they were too far from home ... 825 where the maximum was supposed to be 800 and you had kids on the floor and it was really cruel and unnatural and wrong.