Chapter 18 — Residential Laundries, Novitiates, Hostels and other settings

Witnesses

Nine (9) witnesses reported being placed in residential settings from their family home by or with the support and consent of their parents or other family members. Five (5) male witnesses stated that they entered Novitiates with their parents’ support in circumstances of financial hardship. They said that they learned about the opportunity of a religious life and receiving an education when members of particular religious Orders visited their primary schools to recruit boys to join their community. Four (4) female witnesses stated that they were placed in residential laundries or other work settings with the knowledge or support of parents or relatives in the context of poverty, death of a parent and personal or family crisis including familial abuse. Two (2) of these witnesses stated that they or their relatives were told, prior to admission, that they would receive an education that never materialised as they were involved from the outset in full-time work within the institution. Me Dad died and we were that poor me mam went off to England to get a living, you couldn’t get a living around there...(local area) I was with an aunt, we were at school but you had to buy everything and there wasn’t the money. I was working in the fields, trying to help out, that’s what I was mostly doing. A priest came by and he said I wasn’t doing good at school and he said he would find me a good place. He rang my mother up in England and she was delighted, you know, a convent ...crying... she was grateful. My mother agreed to it, she said the nuns were so holy, they done good in there, I would get a good education and be well looked after. • My mother and father would have wanted the best for me. I was happy as Larry, I’d be down the fields playing football. I’d have my lessons done because they said I was bright.... There was a lot expected of me.... The Brothers came around to the school, 4 of them came round, and sure when I seen the pitches,...(pictures of facilities in Novitiates)... the hurling and football I thought this was great. ... The only one in the school that was picked ... (selected to join Noviciate)... was myself. My mother and father were very poor, they sold a sow and a litter of bonbhs to kit me out.... I was reminded in the school that they were short of money and that really and truly I should be very grateful I was there. I was told that by Br ...X.... Going back that time to have someone... (in the family)... in the religious was a big thing. I was 13.

Twelve (12) male and 13 female witnesses gave evidence of 26 reports of abuse in 15 institutional settings. One witness reported abuse in two institutions in this category. Witnesses reported all four types of abuse: physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse, as defined by the Act. Thirteen (13) witnesses, five male and eight female, also reported abuse in Industrial and Reformatory Schools, in Children’s Homes and hospital. Witness accounts of abuse were descriptions of single incidents of abuse or multiple episodes of abuse experienced over a period of time.

The number of witness reports of abuse in different residential facilities varied as follows: Five (5) residential facilities were the subject of two to five reports, totalling 16 reports. Ten (10) residential facilities were each the subject of single reports.

The most frequently reported abuse types were physical, sexual and emotional abuse, as follows: Fourteen (14) witnesses reported physical abuse. Fourteen (14) witnesses reported emotional abuse. Ten (10) witnesses reported sexual abuse. Eight (8) witnesses reported neglect.

Fourteen (14) witness reports referred to more than one type of abuse and to combinations of abuse, as shown in the following table:

Abuse types and combinations	Number of reports
Sexual	5
Physical, emotional and neglect	4
Physical	4
Emotional	3
Physical and sexual	2
Physical and emotional	2
Sexual and emotional	2
Neglect and emotional	2
Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional	1
Physical and neglect	1
Total	26

Twelve (12) witness reports were of single abuse types, either sexual, physical or emotional, and all other witnesses reported combinations of abuse types.

Physical abuse

The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such injury to, the child.2 This section of the chapter presents evidence heard by the Committee regarding witnesses’ experience of being physically abused and the lack of protection from physical harm while in these residential settings. The nature of physical abuse reported included being beaten with implements, punched, kicked, and subjected to bodily assaults.

The Committee heard evidence from 14 witnesses of physical abuse they experienced in seven institutions. Three (3) institutions were the subject of multiple reports, totalling 10 reports. Four (4) institutions were each the subject of single reports.

Witnesses reported that factors precipitating physical abuse included attempts at resisting sexual abuse, disclosing abuse to parents, breaking the rule of silence, protecting co-residents from punishment, and general lack of control exercised by staff. Witnesses were beaten with sticks, hurleys, batons, keys and leather straps and stated that they were punched, kicked, forced to stand while taking meals, forced to kneel for long periods, locked out overnight, and having their hair cut off. The physical abuse occurred within different areas of the institutions’ buildings including refectories, dormitories, bathrooms, yards and workrooms.

Five (5) male witnesses from one institution reported being severely beaten in an out-of-control manner. Two (2) witnesses described severe and unpredictable beatings all over the body. One witness reported being ‘thrashed with a leather’, and another reported that ‘they beat the lard out of me’. That night I got beaten up by the new staff... (lay staff member)... that came on.... He dragged me out of the bed and he started beating with this baton and he was kinda saying “you better not escape out of here” and he start whipping me across the legs, dragging me out of the bed, pulled me around the floor. He banged the side of me teeth off the bed and ... (I)... got a few wallops across the face. I got a right beating. He kept beating me, I don’t know what kind of anger got into him, I couldn’t understand the anger that came into him.... One of the lads roared “leave him alone”.... I told ...lay ancillary worker ... the next morning, she asked me “what’s wrong?” I had a cut lip, me teeth was chipped, my tooth was loose.

Two (2) institutions were each the subject of two reports of physical abuse. One male witness described an incident of violence when his attempts to avoid sexual abuse were stopped by a ‘clattering around the face with open hands’ and having his head held in the toilet bowl.

Seven (7) female witness reports related to continuous hard physical work in residential laundries, which was generally unpaid. Two (2) witnesses said that the regime was ‘like a prison’, that doors were locked all the time and exercise was taken in an enclosed yard. Working conditions were harsh and included standing for long hours, constantly washing laundry in cold water, and using heavy irons for many hours. One witness described working hard, standing in silence and being made to stand for meals and kneel to beg forgiveness if she spoke. Another witness stated that she was punched and hit as a threat not to disclose details of her everyday life working in the laundry to her family. Three (3) witnesses gave the following accounts of physical abuse: Every morning we were up at 5 o’clock in the summer and 6 o’clock in the winter. We slaved all day.... They starved and worked us to death while they lived in luxury. The nuns were all very hard and nasty, they used to shave our hair off ...distressed... we had to suffer in silence. I hope no one has to suffer like us. We had nowhere to run or no one would believe you.... I often burned myself...(while working, ironing) ... but got no sympathy ...distressed.... One time I had a terrible arm, it didn’t heal up, I had burned it and the dye of the uniform ran into it, and that was the first time I saw a doctor.... • You couldn’t laugh or talk in there ’cos you were just battered. A nice nun in the convent talked to us, Sr ...X... got to hear about it and she just battered us, on the back of the hands, anywhere, and if she got the curtain rail that would go across you. It didn’t matter what she had in her hand. She was like a Hitler ...crying.... My whole childhood was gone in that place. • We were beaten regular, I have got a mark still on my back. Mth ...X... was the evil cow, and then there was the helpers that would hold you down while she was battering you and they would cut lumps ... out of your hair.... I was 11 ... years old. I was battered with a big belt both by the nun and helpers....

Three (3) male witnesses reported that they had sustained physical injuries as a result of assault. One witness stated that his hand was caught in a door as he attempted to escape being sexually abused. Two (2) witnesses from another institution were punched and severely beaten, sustaining injuries to their noses, faces and backs. One witness reported that the assault on him stopped when co-residents intervened to protect him.

Witnesses reported being physically abused by staff in the institutions and by older co-residents. It is possible that there is some overlap between those identified by name and those who were not named but identified by their role or function within the institution.

Three (3) religious staff, one male and two female, were named as perpetrators of physical abuse. Four religious staff, two male and two female, were not named but identified by witnesses as authority figures. One male lay care staff was identified by name and five other lay staff were identified by position, including a Resident Manager. The Committee heard two witness accounts of abuse by older co-residents one of whom commented that he believed the physical assault was instigated by the Resident Manager.