Chapter 4 — Circumstances of admission

Reasons for admission

Fifty four (54) witnesses, 19 male and 35 female, reported chronic illness and hospitalisation of a parent as the main contributing factor in their admission. Twenty six (26) witnesses reported that their mothers were in psychiatric hospitals and five others reported that their fathers had psychiatric illnesses. Ten (10) witnesses reported that one of their parents had tuberculosis and the remaining parent was unable to cope alone, resulting in the more dependant children being admitted to an Industrial School. Other witnesses reported that both parents had tuberculosis. Mum had TB, my father couldn’t look after us ... he was an alcoholic. I was put in by Court Order ...(with consent of parents).... My sisters joined me, except my eldest sister, she stayed with my Nan.... I have no recollection because I was only 18 months ...(old)... going there. Basically from what my sister told me I know it was 3 or 4 months after me that they came in. All my mam’s family had died of TB, she was the only one that survived, basically she was on her own. I saw my father once, I remember him coming up one Christmas. I didn’t know I had brothers until ...(later years).... • Seven of us went into institutions. The baby she ...(mother)... kept and an older sister as well. The house was examined, it was in very poor circumstance. I have a letter from the sergeant ...displayed copy of correspondence and garda report.... My father had a disability. I remember it ...(admission)... distinctly. I was going in ... I was sitting on my mother’s lap, she left me and she didn’t come back and get me. ... She didn’t visit until I was 5, I didn’t recognise her as my mother. • They brought us to the Court. I remember my father screaming ...distressed... he was a good father. I remember him playing with us, he was a good man, he’d play with me and my sister, he did not want us to go. I remember the love my parents had for me, they were poor and my mother was another religion. Thirty two (32) witnesses, 21 male and 11 female, reported being admitted to a School following family disruption through parental separation, cohabitation or as a result of extra marital relationships. Twenty seven (27) witnesses, 10 male and 17 female, reported that their parents, 20 fathers and seven mothers either were or had also been in prison. Five (5) witnesses, two male and three female, reported being admitted to a School because of familial sexual abuse. Sixty five (65) witnesses, 57 male and eight female, stated that they have not been able to determine the circumstances of their admission to institutional care.

Admission by Court Order

Six hundred and eighty four (684) admissions of 356 male and 314 female witnesses were required by Order of a Court. These included 14 admissions to more than one institution under separate Court Orders. The admissions took place as the result of a Court Order under provisions of the Children Act, 1908, as amended, and the School Attendance Acts, 1926-1967.

The following chart summarises the provisions of the Children Act, 1908, as amended, and the School Attendance Acts, 1926-1967 under which these witnesses were admitted to Industrial and Reformatory Schools.

Source of jurisdiction	Grounds	Number of court orders males	Number of court orders females
Children Act, 1908 section	In need of Care/Protection where the child was under 15 years old (under 14 up to 1942)
58(1)(a)	Found begging or receiving alms	10	22
58(1)(b)	Found not having a home or not having parent/guardian exercising proper guardianship.	141	207
58(1)(c)	Found destitute where parent/s are in prison.	3	7
133(17)	Found destitute being an orphan.	3	3
58(1)(d)	Having a parent/guardian who by reason of reputed criminal or drunken habits is therefore unfit to have care of the child.	15	31
58(1)(h)	Found destitute and parent/s unable to support child.	30	38
Children Act, 1908	Uncontrollable
58(4)	Parent unable to control the child and desires child be sent to Industrial School.	4	1
Children Act, 1908	Offender – Committal to Industrial School
58(2)	Child under 12 charged with offence, where Court decides to send him or her to Industrial rather than Reformatory School.	25	0
58(3)	Child aged between 12 and 14,(13 before 1942), charged with an offence, and not previously convicted, where Court decides to send him or her to Industrial rather than Reformatory School, and he or she will not exercise an evil influence over other children there.	40	1
Children Act, 1908	Offender – Committal to Reformatory School
57(1)	Offender from age 12 up, but less than 17, (16 before 1942), could be sent to Reformatory School.	42	2
School Attendance Acts, 1926-1967	Non-Attendance at School
Section 17(4)	Where parent has used all reasonable efforts to cause child to attend school or is convicted for second time (of failing or neglecting to send a child to school).	55	1
Others3		1	2
Total admissions by Court Order		369	315

The section of legislation under which witnesses were most frequently admitted to the School system was section 58(1)(b) of the Children Act, 1908, under which 141 male admissions (38%) and 207 female admissions (66%) were effected. Section 58(1)(b) of the Act provides for situations where a child is found not having a home or having a parent or guardian not exercising proper guardianship.

There were six witnesses admitted under section 133(17) of the 1908 Act, which specifically provided for the detention of children ‘found destitute, being an orphan’.4

One hundred and eleven (111) admissions (16%) of 107 male and four female witnesses were under sections of the Children Act, 1908 that refer to offenders.Twenty five (25) of these admissions were of witnesses who were charged with offences when they were less than 12 years old and a further 41 were of witnesses who were aged between 12 and 14 years.

Fifty six (56) witnesses, all except one of whom were male, were admitted to the School system under section 17(4) of the School Attendance Act, 1926. This Act and its amendments were applied to children who failed to attend school and were younger than the official school leaving age of 14 years. School Attendance Officers and gardaí generally initiated Court proceedings in these circumstances.

Many witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee reported being angry that the wording of their Court Order appeared to ‘criminalise’ them for reasons such as ‘found not having any home or settled place of abode, or visible means of subsistence, or having a parent or guardian who does not exercise proper guardianship’.5 The absurdity of an infant being charged with ‘receiving alms’ was remarked upon. 6

Age on first admission

The following information refers to what was known regarding witnesses’ age when they were first admitted to any form of care outside their own family. Many witnesses were admitted to Schools from other institutions where they may have resided from birth or early childhood. The age of first admission to out-of-home care for both male and female witnesses is shown in Table 13:

Age at first admission	Males	%	Females	%	Total witnesses	%
0–5 years	133	32	244	65	377	48
6–10 years	119	29	99	26	218	28
11–15 years	144	35	35	9	179	23
16–17 years	17	4	0	0	17	2
Total	413	100	378	100	791	(100)*

The marked difference in the age profile of witnesses’ admission to out-of-home care is demonstrated in this table. One hundred and thirty three (133) male witnesses (32%) compared with 244 female witnesses (65%) were admitted to out-of-home care in their first five years of life and 61% of male witnesses compared to 91% of female witnesses reported being placed in out-of-home care by the age of 10 years. Finally, 161 male witnesses (35%) were first admitted to care at age 11 years or older, compared with 35 female witnesses (9%).

Length of stay

It can be observed from information provided by witnesses that the length of stay in out-of-home care varied depending on a number of factors including their age at the time of admission and the particular reasons for their admission. As shown in Table 13, most female witnesses were admitted at a young age and spent longer periods of time in institutions. By contrast, a higher percentage of male witnesses (39%) than female (9%) were admitted over the age of 10 years and were discharged within six years.

The majority of witnesses were in care for more than six years. The average length of stay for male witnesses was seven and a half years and the average length of stay for female witnesses was 11 years. Table 14 below shows the length of stay in out-of-home care for both male and female witnesses:

Length of stay in care	Males	%	Females	%	Total witnesses	%
0–5 years	181	44	53	14	234	30
6–10 years	109	26	103	27	212	27
11–15 years	99	24	181	48	280	35
16+ years	24	6	41	11	65	8
Total	413	100	378	100	791	100

As the table shows, 345 witnesses (44%), 123 male (30%) and 222 female (59%), were in out-of-home care for more than 10 years. Two hundred and thirty four (234) witnesses (30%), 181 male and 53 female, were in out-of-home care for five years or less.

Witnesses admitted to Schools for committing an offence under sections 57(1) and 58(3) of the Children Act, 1908 were generally admitted at a later age and for a briefer and defined period of time than those admitted under section 58(1)(b). For the female witnesses brief admissions to Schools were an unusual experience and in most instances reflected admissions at a later age in the context of a family crisis or an offence.

Age when discharged

Four hundred and eleven (411) of the 791 witnesses (52%), 198 male and 213 female, were discharged from the Schools when they were 16 years of age or older. With the exception of admission to Reformatory Schools, it was most often reported that court-ordered admissions were until the witness was 16 years rather than for a specified number of years. Seventy five (75) witnesses were discharged before their 14th birthday, 30 of whom were male and 45 female. Table 15 shows the age of discharge for both male and female witnesses.

Age when discharged	Males	%	Females	%	Total witnesses	%
<10 years	3	1	11	3	14	2
10–13 years	27	7	34	9	61	8
14–16 years	315	76	243	64	558	71
17+ years	68	16	90	24	158	20
Total	413	100	378	100	791	(100)*