Chapter 17 — Primary and second-level schools

Witnesses

Eleven (11) schools were fee-paying boarding schools, three of which were primary and eight were second-level schools.

The reports related to abuse in 36 city schools, 25 schools in provincial towns and 12 rural schools.

The majority of witnesses were between 50 and 60 years of age at the time of their hearing. Three (3) witnesses were aged over 70 years and two were less than 30 years of age, as shown in the following table:

Age range	Males	Females	Total witnesses
20–29 years	2	0	2
30–39 years	7	0	7
40–49 years	11	4	15
50–59 years	21	6	27
60–69 years	13	3	16
70 + years	2	1	3
Total	56	14	70

Fifty nine (59) witnesses, 45 male and 14 female, were residing in Ireland at the time of their hearing. Eleven (11) witnesses were living in the UK and one witness was living in North America.

Twenty three (23) witnesses reported that they were born in Dublin and 43 witnesses were born in 18 other counties in Ireland. Four (4) witnesses were born outside the State.

Sixty four (64) witnesses, 50 male and 14 female, reported that their parents were married at the time of their birth. Four (4) male witnesses reported being born to single mothers and two male witnesses’ parents were separated or widowed at the time of their birth.

In most instances witnesses provided information to the Committee about their parents’ occupational background as described in Table 100.2

Occupational status	Males	Females	Total witnesses
Professional worker	7	1	8
Managerial and technical	6	0	6
Non-manual	6	6	12
Skilled manual	10	5	15
Semi-skilled	10	1	11
Unskilled	13	0	13
Unavailable	4	1	5
Total	56	14	70

It is of note that the majority of female witnesses reported that they were from a non-manual or skilled manual background. The majority of male witnesses reported being from semi-skilled or unskilled backgrounds. Information was not available regarding the parental occupational status of five witnesses.

Sixty two (62) witnesses reported that they had siblings, and the majority were from families of under six children.

Sixty seven (67) of the 70 witnesses who reported abuse in primary and second-level schools were in the care of their parents at the time they experienced abuse in school. Fifty eight (58) witnesses lived at home with their families and attended day school and nine witnesses were in fee-paying boarding schools. Three (3) male witnesses were in out-of-home care, two of whom reported that they were placed in boarding schools by the authorities in their Industrial Schools. The other witness was resident in a Children’s Home and attended a primary school.

The official school leaving age prior to 1969 was 14 years. Table 101 illustrates the witnesses’ school leaving age reported at their hearing:

Age on leaving school	Males	Females	Total witnesses
<13 years	4	0	4
14 years	11	2	12
15 years	7	1	8
16 years	12	2	14
17 years	9	3	12
18+ years	13	5	18
Unavailable	0	1	1
Total	57	14	70

Three (3) of the four witnesses who reported leaving school at 13 years or under stated that they left for reasons associated with their special needs and the fourth left on completion of sixth class.

Record of abuse

The Committee heard 82 reports of abuse from 70 witnesses in relation to 73 different schools. The 82 witness reports of abuse in primary and second-level schools heard by the Committee related to a 60-year period between 1932 and1992. The report of abuse by a witness may either refer to descriptions of single episodes or to multiple experiences of being abused over time in a school. Witnesses reported physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse. The frequency of witness reports about each school is as follows: Fifty one (51) primary schools were each the subject of a single report, the majority of which were mixed gender schools. Fourteen (14) second-level schools were each the subject of a single report, 12 of these were boys’ schools. Three (3) boys’ primary schools were the subject of two reports each, totalling six reports. Four (4) boys’ second-level schools were the subject of two reports each, totalling eight reports. One boys’ primary school was the subject of three reports.

Twelve (12) male witnesses reported abuse in more than one school. Nine (9) witnesses reported abuse in national and secondary schools and three reported abuse in two national schools. Evidence from five witnesses who also reported abuse in Children’s Homes, foster care and Industrial Schools is included in the relevant chapters of this Report.

The 82 witness reports of abuse varied over a period of seven decades, as follows: Twenty three (23) witness reports refer to witnesses who left school prior to 1960. Thirty four (34) witness reports refer to those who left school during the 1960s. Sixteen (16) witness reports refer to those who left school during the 1970s. Nine (9) witness reports refer to those who left school during the 1980s and 1990s.