Chapter 7 — Artane

Fr Henry Moore

In his short covering report, the most senior inspector, Mr MacDaibhid, Assistant Principal Officer and Inspector in charge of industrial schools, endorsed the reports of his colleagues and added: To sum up I would say that the school emerged very creditably from the inspection. No serious fault could be found in Artane and the impression of the “big happy family” atmosphere which pervaded the entire institution was inescapable. Atmosphere in such a school is all-important. Minor adverse criticisms only could be levelled at the school.

In the course of his report, Mr MacDaibhid mentioned that the ‘overcoats supplied by the School are raincoats only, 412 of which were ordered in December’. Mr MacUaid disclosed in his report that the number of boys in residence was 413, which means that outer garments for all the boys were being procured. The provision of overcoats for the boys was a matter of controversy in the questioning of Fr Moore by counsel for the Christian Brothers. This report suggests that these raincoats were being ordered for the first time, and it does not disprove Fr Moore’s report.

Mr MacDaibhid concluded: Having passed strictures on Bro Ourson in the past, I must say that he emerged from this inspection with, in my opinion, much improved stature, his previous weakness being an apparently casual disregard for the authority of the Department.

The Department Inspection Reports on Artane were considered by the Inter-Departmental Committee in March and again in May 1963. The Committee ‘could not agree’ that the School had emerged commendably from the inspections, or that the praise accorded to the management was deserved. Mr MacDaibhid continued to assert that the criticisms noted in the MacUaid report were minor and were applicable to all industrial schools, although he did concede that there was a need for more money, which was true of industrial schools generally. Dr McCabe’s report on the School ‘was noted’. Ultimately, the Committee agreed to bring the criticisms noted by Mr MacUaid and recorded in the minutes of the March meeting to the attention of the Minister for Education.

The relevant part of the minutes is introduced by the statement that the MacUaid report ‘was then considered paragraph by paragraph, the Chairman indicating the many ways in which the criticisms corresponded to what Fr Moore had said’ and goes on: The Report makes these criticisms for instance:- “that boys should not be reared away from the refining influence of women; “the necessity for having female assistants at key points in the institution; “there is an extravagance of space which makes a nightmare of maintenance (of Artane) in modern times; “nowhere else was I more forcibly struck by the criticism that Artane is too big than in this vast dining hall among 400 youngsters ... The fact that the dining hall was designed to accommodate several hundred more than the number present added to the impression that the charge “institutionalised” could not be defended here; “it is essential that a woman qualified in domestic economy and with a female assistant, be placed in charge of the kitchen and dining hall; “the standards here (in the dormitories) were male standards ... the furnishing of a dormitory is a woman’s role which man cannot adequately fill; “the clothes in most cases were of the rough type tweed in the familiar poor-house colours ... automatically identifying the wearers ... The Sunday clothes were ... equally drab in colour and unimaginative in pattern ... a woman with ideas could do really good work in the school workshop ... “add to this shirts buttoned or unbuttoned at the neck and no ties and even the most presentable boys are handicapped in appearance; “on paper this (each boy’s issue of clothes) looks a generous issue but it is not supported by the appearance of the boys; “the same general criticisms are made of the laundry which is described as being old-fashioned in methods and machinery; “he (the Dean of discipline) is too young for an exacting job that requires maturity, had little experience of the city type prior to his appointment as disciplinarian; “in response to the suggestion that a course in psychology in U.C.D. would help in an office of this important kind he (the Superior) replied that the question had never been examined by the Order; “the play-yard was disappointing, its surface uneven and puddle-holed contributing in turn to dirty boots and shoes and spattered legs; “the recreation hall is a long cement-floored room, uncared for, dismal, depressing and dirty and with no redeeming feature whatsoever ... The school classroom one of the same ramshackle type ... “the Superior drew attention to the lack of a satisfactory hostel for orphans or abandoned boys leaving Artane at 16 years; “the absence of a hostel for post industrial school boys with no homes to go to is a weakness in the system of aftercare which I think the Department should try to rectify; “12 boys (out of 150 eligible) were entered for the M.T. Group Certificate ... in June, 1962 but all failed ... this Branch will pursue this unsatisfactory performance with our Technical Instruction Branch; “the Resident Manager very seldom applies for the retention of boys until the age of 17 years to continue their secondary or technical school studies and the replies given by the Bursar in defence of this policy were vague and unsatisfactory; “Cleanliness in the bakery was barely adequate and the white tunics of the apprentices could do with replacement”.

The Committee also set out and approved general recommendations for change for industrial schools, many of which were influenced by the Moore and Department of Education inspections. The recommendations included the following: (1)The term ‘industrial school’ should be abolished. (2)Larger State grants should be made to industrial schools. (3)Inspections should take place more frequently. (4)Minimum standards regarding clothing, bedding etc should be prescribed by regulations. (5)Adequate financial provision should be set aside for maintenance, repairs and appropriate recreational facilities. (6)A matron/nurse should be appointed to each school. (7)City children should not be committed for lengthy periods to country institutions. (8)Firm links between institutions and the Probation Service should be established for the benefit of those leaving institutions. (9)Visiting Committees should be set up for each industrial school and, where appropriate, Aftercare Committees.

A specific recommendation was agreed regarding Artane that an educational psychologist should be appointed to the School.

Although the Minister for Justice approved these recommendations, they were never implemented by the Department of Education which had that remit. Nevertheless, the proceedings of the Inter-Departmental Committee laid the foundations for the establishment of the Kennedy Committee in 1967.

Before Dr Anna McCabe retired from her position as Medical Inspector, she furnished a General Report on Industrial and Reformatory Schools dated 29th February 1964. She made specific reference to Fr Moore’s report, and stated that she was in substantial agreement with most of its contents. However, she rejected outright his findings regarding the boys’ clothing, diet and medical facilities available in the School, and she complimented Br Ourson on his management and attributed many improvements to his intervention.

Fr Moore in evidence said that he called to the School every morning to say Mass. After breakfast, he returned to his parish and visited the School every afternoon for an hour or two, which he spent mostly in the recreation yard, infirmary and workshops.

He was aware that Archbishop McQuaid was very unhappy with the state of affairs in Artane. He was concerned about the vastness of the Institution. Fr Moore believed that the Archbishop’s disquiet regarding Artane was motivated by a deep concern for the children. In 1962, when he was asked by the Archbishop to write a report regarding Artane, he did not feel any pressure to colour his report in line with the Archbishop’s trenchant views. In fact, the Archbishop’s opinion mirrored his own experience of Artane after two years’ working there. Fr Moore had become involved in the area of aftercare, much to the annoyance of the Brothers, he said. He worked with a youth club for former Artane boys run by the Legion of Mary, which highlighted to him the deficiencies in the provision of aftercare by the Brothers. He understood his purpose in writing the report was to present a global picture of his experience of Artane. He became aware subsequently that the Archbishop stated in correspondence with the Department of Justice that he had appointed Fr Moore to set about reforming Artane.

Fr Moore visited the refectory for the purpose of his report and observed that ‘it was generally unruly. Boys sitting at tables snapping each other’s food, as it were, things like that. Pretty unruly I would have thought. Pretty crude’.

He contrasted the appearance of Artane boys with their peers in the parish: It is difficult to describe. I could use the one word, to me anyway, at the time they looked institutional. That’s a blanket sort of description but I discerned a certain difference in a boy who was institutionalised, in his pallor, in his gait, in his general appearance.

He said that some of the Artane boys were most definitely undersized for their age.

He stated that the boys told him that they had to pay for their overcoats and, as a result, most boys did not own one: I would have noticed on wintry days in the schoolyard, for example, very cold, bleak area of north Dublin, it seemed to me that they were very cold and some of them had chilblains and they would have runny noses and using their sleeves to clean their noses and to me looked very cold and pretty miserable.