Chapter 8 — Cappoquin

Neglect

Because the new Resident Manager, Sr Adriana, had acted as assistant to the former Resident Manager, and because she was older than her predecessor, the Inspector regarded it as unreasonable to expect her to implement the ‘fundamental changes and improvements’ that were necessary.

He went on to address the Superior’s surprise at the strong censure contained in his previous letter: I would impress upon you that this Department could have no graver charge against any school than that the children are not properly fed. As you said in your letter of 5th April last, health is one of the few advantages that will probably fall to their future lot, and underfeeding in their tender formative years constitutes the gravest threat to their enjoyment of it. The position of Resident Manager in a school like Cappoquin calls for a young, active, Sister who is sympathetic and kindly disposed towards children, and preferably one who has been trained as a nurse.

He concluded by arranging that Dr McCabe would visit the following month to discuss this and other outstanding matters, such as the accommodation limit, fire precautions etc, with the Superior.

The Department’s reservations regarding the suitability of the new Resident Manager were not acted upon. Dr McCabe visited the School on 27th February 1945 and, in a detailed handwritten report dated 12th March 1945, she advised the Department that the food had improved and the children had gained weight. She was still not happy, however, as she found that children had dirty necks and ears and, when this was drawn to the Manager’s attention, she said it was as a result of the boys playing about in the turf. Dr McCabe did not feel that this was from where the dirt had emanated.

She discussed the School in general with the Superior on this visit, and asked her to provide a young, active sympathetic nun with knowledge of nursing for the role of Resident Manager. She was told there were only a small number of nuns in the convent and, as they were not tied in with any other convent in the diocese, they did not have a place from which they could transfer a nun to become Resident Manager. The Novitiate of the Congregation was in Waterford but, when nuns came from the Novitiate to the convent in Cappoquin, they were not transferred from convent to convent but from the National School to the Industrial School, or vice versa. In view of these difficulties and the more favourable report from Dr McCabe, the Department decided to give Sr Adriana a probationary period of six months and then arrange a formal inspection. This decision was conveyed to the School in a formal letter dated 9th April 1945.

Six months later, on 29th October 1945, Dr McCabe inspected the School and reported that she was satisfied with the way things were going in the School under the new Resident Manager. The annual inspection reports for the next five years refer to the food and diet as no more than ‘satisfactory’, although the School generally was deemed to have improved all round.

The issue of inadequate diet arose in 1952, when Dr McCabe once again became concerned about the diet of the children. She reported that, although not ill, they were not too robust. There were a lot of children with runny noses, and she felt the diet could be more varied. She noted that the Resident Manager was keen to do her best. On her next visit on 21st October 1953, Dr McCabe noted a very big improvement in the food, clothing and school buildings.

Dr McCabe paid 11 more visits to the School during the tenure of Sr Adriana. The reports were less detailed, and on occasions she reported a number of visits on one report. Overall, she described continued improvements being carried out. She mentioned Sr Adriana in most reports as being an excellent Resident Manager, kind to the boys, if a little old-fashioned. In her opinion, it was a well-run school, with the children well cared for.

One witness, resident in the Institution for four years in the mid-1940s, recalled: ... Hunger, hunger was a big problem ... All the time ... I had a habit anyway and some of the other boys had a habit, if we got a crust for our supper or for our tea, we would divide the crust into small little pieces and keep it in our hand for the intervening period between the next meal and we would eat one of these things every few minutes. It was a small little crust. That’s what kept us going.

The children were severely underfed for a long period in the 1940s and 1950s. On being told by the Medical Inspector that the children were seriously underfed the Superior’s first priority was to defend the inadequate diet. The state of the children was not a concern for her. The Superior was arrogant and dismissive of the Department’s complaints. The Manager was grossly incompetent but the Superior was determined to keep her in place. The Department’s contention that conditions in Cappoquin were mirrored in other industrial schools run by the Congregation was an indictment of the Sisters of Mercy generally in respect of their care of children, and disclosed widespread neglect. The Department’s assessment also represented an extraordinary admission of failure on its part in respect of its oversight of the system.

Although Dr McCabe’s early reports concentrated on dietary issues, she continued to comment on the need for improvement to the accommodation and sanitation facilities and, in particular, the lack of a recreation hall.

In a report of the mid-1940s, she stated: I spoke again with the Manager about a Rec. Hall, – she discussed with me several plans she had for improvement in this school and added if she could receive an extra allowance she would carry these out – but of course without help financially she was powerless to make these desired improvements.

Again, two years later, Dr McCabe’s report states: a plan has been discussed to have a recreation hall built – but so far that is all.

In the late 1940s, the Inspector wrote to the Resident Manager expressing his pleasure with the overall improvement in the children’s health and well being, but noted the serious need for the following to be carried out as soon as possible: improved sanitation facilities; erection of a recreation hall; provision of adequate fire escapes.

On receipt of this letter, the Sisters of Mercy informed the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore that the Department of Education had requested them to provide improvements, and sought his advice as to what they should do. He wrote to the Department and posed the question: Is it likely there will continue in the near future to be a demand for such schools in view of the increasing State grants being made available for widows, orphans, etc.? As the Head of the Diocese, I honestly feel unable to reply to the request of the Cappoquin Convent for advice and I would be grateful to you for a helpful direction in this matter. The numbers in the school may decline and the overhanging debt would remain on the Community which would have, so far as I can see, no means of paying it off.