Chapter 8 — Letterfrack

Physical abuse

Fourteen former members of staff, 13 Brothers or ex-Brothers and one lay-man, gave evidence about corporal punishment. They were in Letterfrack between 1948 and 1974.

Br Sorel was a teacher in Letterfrack from the late 1940s until the late 1950s. He also worked in the dormitories. He said that Letterfrack was a harsh place: The whole experience. I cannot justify it. It was too strict and the lads were great that they were able to accept it and come through it ...

The need for strictness had been impressed upon him at an early stage: I was as strict as anybody else. The system was strict and we were told at the very beginning that unless we had discipline, that there would be chaos, there would be chaos.

He was told by senior Brothers never to let his guard down and to maintain an aloof and stern visage. He did so even though he was fearful inside: One of the Brothers said to me, “Whatever you do don’t smile, walk along with a very serious face”, and I was shivering. Nobody knew that. I was shivering in my boots. Quite a number of the lads there were big strong lads, ... huge guys there, I was shivering in my shoes because I never had this experience.

These same Brothers also told him that, by being strict, he would be better able to keep control, which resulted in his punishing boys unnecessarily.

According to Br Sorel, absconders were treated particularly harshly. Their heads were shaved and they were often forced to march around the yard in silence during recreation periods. They were also forced to sit with their backs to the screen during the weekly cinema performance. He described this as a fierce punishment because the weekly film was so eagerly anticipated by everybody in the School.

He found the work very difficult. He taught three classes and had responsibility for one of the dormitories. He would get up at 5:45am, attend morning prayers, wake the boys, bring them to Mass, take them to the refectory, have his own breakfast, supervise the morning chores, bring them to school, and teach until lunchtime. The boys would then go to the various trade shops for industrial training. This was his first break. He would supervise them again and bring them to bed.

Br Sorel made the shocking admission that he forced a boy to eat his own excrement. The boy was not a complainant to the Investigation Committee but the incident was recounted by a complainant who had witnessed it. The Brother in his written response to the Investigation Committee accepted that the allegation was true. In evidence he told the Committee: Well the ... thing has haunted me all my life. It should never have happened. Actually he didn’t eat the excrement, he spat it into the basin, that doesn’t matter, it was wrong, totally wrong, and I accept that. I accept full responsibility for it. It was cruel.

When asked by the Committee why he did it, he said that he was stressed by having to cope with boys who soiled themselves, particularly during the night. He asked colleagues what he should do about one particular boy: A few days before I mentioned this to some of the staff, “what will I do”, I couldn’t get any help from anybody. One of them quite cynically said, “make him eat his own shit”. When I think now on this particular morning, he did it right out in the floor in front of everybody and I saw red, I saw anger, I thought he was doing it purposefully to ridicule me. I think that was the reason.

He added that as soon as he had calmed down he knew he had gone too far and he subsequently apologised to the boy in question.

The stresses of working in Letterfrack as teacher and carer caused this young, untrained and inexperienced Brother to behave in a shameful manner towards a troubled child. This disgusting incident was not unique: another example is reported in the Artane chapter. With hindsight the Brother was able to recognise the severity of the regime in Letterfrack and the damage it could do to both Brothers and boys.

Br Dax was in Letterfrack from the late 1950s to mid-1970s, except for one year. In 2003, he was convicted of 25 counts of sexual abuse committed during this period. His evidence is dealt with in detail in the section on sexual abuse.

His evidence is also relevant in this section. He admitted using violence and the threat of violence to prevent boys he sexually abused from reporting him. He also admitted to being a generally cruel and violent person. He agreed that he was an angry man with a bizarre prejudice against boys from County Limerick. He admitted that if he lost his temper he hit boys with whatever he had in his hands and that he could have drawn blood on such occasions. He also accepted in cross-examination that it was possible that he would have walked up behind them and struck them on the back of the head just to get their attention.

How Br Dax could have continued unchecked for such a long period of time is a question that arises acutely in regard to sexual abuse of boys. His use of premeditated violence in some circumstances, and capricious violence in others, should of itself have triggered an investigation that might have uncovered the full extent of his abusive activities.

This Brother, who served there for two years from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, made a number of important concessions in relation to Letterfrack. He confirmed that he was not given any specific instruction on punishment and that the use of the leather strap, which some Brothers carried around with them all the time, was totally discretionary. He also said he had no recollection of a punishment book during his time there.