Chapter 15 — St. Mary’s Kilkenny

Education

In 1955, the Department of Finance sanctioned the pupil teacher ratio for the school at 10 pupils to one teacher which was to be calculated on the basis of the number of children ‘in average attendance’ in a year. On 27th January 1960 the Department of Education wrote to the Department of Finance seeking to change the requirement of staffing levels based on the number of children in attendance in a year to the number of children enrolled in the school in any given year. The reason was that the numbers of children in attendance often fluctuated due to illness and hospitalisation. The Department also pointed out in this letter that: ...The authorities of the Department of Education of the Deaf at Manchester University have been reported as being of opinion that St. Mary’s is one of the leading schools for deaf in the world and that there are only two others – one in Holland and the other in America – to compare with it.

The Department of Finance refused the request and stated that the staffing levels in the school were ‘already liberal comparing favourably even with the special quotas for other categories of handicapped children...’. The Department of Education replied by letter dated 1st March 1960 and argued that the only correct basis of comparison of staffing levels could be made with deaf schools in other countries and not with other special schools. They pointed out that in deaf schools in England there was one teacher to every eight students on the rolls and such a similar basis operated in the United States. In English deaf schools, children were not removed from the school rolls even when they were in hospital, unlike their Irish counterparts who had to remove their names from the rolls when in hospital. On 22nd March 1960, the Department of Finance capitulated.

School Inspection Reports show that in 1985 the average number of pupils in each class was between seven and eight. In 1986 the pupil teacher ratio was 6:1. Post-primary education

In the late 1950s the School began providing secondary education. At that time the number of students was quite small and the School was able to meet the needs of these students either within the primary staff quota or with minimal extra teachers. It operated along the lines of the secondary top model where primary teachers taught primary classes in the mornings and taught various subjects to students for the Intermediate and Leaving Certificates in the afternoons. From the mid-1960s the demand for post-primary education grew. The School responded to the demand by employing more teachers. The Department of Education was not directly involved with the provision of post-primary education and it was only with the publication of the 1965 Report on Mental Handicap that the State gradually became more involved not only in the provision of special schools and services for the learning disabled but also in the areas of education of the deaf and the blind.

A Departmental Committee was set up to review the education of hearing-impaired children and it began its work in the late 1960s. The Committee’s report, the first official Irish Government report on the subject, was published in 1972.

The report made some general recommendations about the desirability of the two Cabra schools co-operating in the provision of services. The Principal of St Joseph’s at the time who was a member of the Committee dissented from the opinions of the rest of the group on the question of co-operation. Although, some attempts at co-operation were made during the 1970s, no significant developments occurred. By 1989, 24 full-time permanent teachers were employed in the post-primary section of St Mary’s even though the post-primary section of the school did not have official status as a proper post-primary school. Technically and administratively the school operated as a special national school for the hearing impaired with a post-primary facility.

The Department were anxious that serious consideration be given to the amalgamation of both schools at least at post-primary level. In their view, the post-primary sections of both schools were overstaffed and not understaffed as contended by both school principals.

In correspondence between the Department of Education Special Schools section and the Manager of St Mary’s commencing in February 1965, the Sisters pressed the Department to sanction an extra teacher and a financial contribution towards the cost of a prefabricated building in which they proposed to establish a special class for emotionally disturbed deaf girls. The Department had no objection in principle to this proposal provided the staff pupil ratio was maintained at agreed levels.

Nature of allegations

The complainants’ statements alleged physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse.

Twenty complainants alleged excessive corporal punishment by nuns, teachers and lay staff using a variety of implements. The complaints included allegations of punishment for using sign language by being slapped and having hands tied behind the back.

Allegations were made of sexual abuse by visiting priests and the Congregation admitted that such an allegation was made against a priest, who left shortly after that and never returned.

Nineteen complainants alleged neglect in respect of one or more of the following: education, food, accommodation and medical care.

All of the complainants alleged emotional abuse in respect of prevention of use of sign language, segregation from other children based on hearing impairment, fear, bullying or humiliation.

Response of the Dominican Sisters

In their respondent statements, the Dominican Sisters stated the following in general terms: They accepted that corporal punishment was used but denied that children were ‘beaten’. They stated that Oralism was the preferred option from 1947 and that signing was discouraged. They denied that a child was physically punished for signing but accepted that a child may have been slapped if they persisted. They did not respond to specific allegations of abuse against individuals due to the passage of time which they contended made it prejudicial to them.

The Department of Education decided in 1990 that their policy should be pragmatic and flexible and open to all aspects of education of the deaf including the communication issue. They decided they would have a caring and flexible system of education of every deaf child from an early age and certain modes of communication should not be seen as mutually exclusive or as having inherent or distinct qualities which made them better than others. Special schools should be encouraged to base their methods on real needs of the children not on any particular approach to the education of the deaf. Regular reviews of programmes of work and individual progress would be undertaken. With regard to post-primary education the Department saw the way forward to amalgamate St Mary’s and St Joseph’s in Cabra into a single community-type post-primary school.