Chapter 6 — Everyday life experiences (male witnesses)

Official visitors and others

In addition to routine inspections there were 34 witness accounts of official visitors, including a President, Taoisigh, government ministers, bishops, judges, foreign dignitaries and officials from the Gaelic Athletic Association, politicians, celebrities and superiors of religious orders. There were a further 19 witness reports of visits by priests to examine catechism in the classroom and to conduct retreats. Other visitors included parish priests, professionals and local personalities. Preparations were reported to have been undertaken prior to all visits. A number of Schools were reported to have had official visiting Sundays, usually on a monthly basis, for residents’ parents and relatives.

A small number of witnesses reported being specially dressed up and shown to visiting couples understood to be prospective adoptive and foster parents, some of whom selected witnesses and/or their siblings to adopt or foster. Once a month on visiting Sunday the place was cleaned, we all wore our best clothes, the parents were conducted around, by the priests and Brothers who monitored the visits, we were all warned to say nothing.

Volunteer workers and visitors

Witnesses reported that volunteer workers and visitors were involved with many Schools in what they believed to be an informal capacity to assist with the residents’ care and recreation activities. Witnesses reported that these volunteers were generally described as members of the public, mostly male, both lay and religious. They assisted with regular activities such as homework and sport. Some befriended particular residents and took them out of the School either for day outings or overnight trips and holidays. Witnesses also reported regular visits to the Schools by clergy and Brothers who were not part of the day-to-day School staff or did not appear to have any specific role or function within the School. In addition there were reports from a small number of Schools where visiting Brothers and novices relieved care staff during summer holidays.

Arrangements for discharge

Many witnesses reported that they experienced considerable adjustment difficulties when they were discharged, including feeling abandoned and unable to cope with the transition from institutional care. Their isolation from the outside world while residents of the Schools, the rural location of a number of Schools and the loss of family contact during admission was described repeatedly by witnesses. Many witnesses stated that the only preparation for their discharge was being told of their discharge date. As 232 male witnesses had been in residential care for between six and 18 years, many without any family contact, the experience of leaving the Schools was particularly traumatic. These witnesses reported that they had almost no experience of everyday life outside an institution and no experience of being on their own prior to being discharged.

Male witnesses discharged before 1970 gave accounts of being given a new suit of clothes for their departure, sometimes referred to as ‘the liberty suit’. Witnesses who worked in the tailoring shops reported making their own discharge suit and in so doing were alerted to the fact of their imminent release.

Witnesses reported a variety of arrangements made for their discharge from the Schools. One hundred and ten (110) male witnesses reported that they were discharged home to their families. Where parental contact had been maintained with witnesses while they were in the School the transition home was more often reported to have been positive. Having a supportive family network generally contributed to subsequent stability. (Brothers)... they more or less told you before you left ...named School... that if you talked about any of the crap that was going on there ... I would be brought back for another 2 years. That I could be kept there until I was 18, for 2 more years. So when I was out I was straight on the B and I boat ...(to England).... My mother gave me the money. I went to the brother ...(witness’s sibling).... I couldn’t read and write, I couldn’t fill out a form to try for a job. I worked on the buildings.

One hundred and six (106) witnesses reported that some arrangements were made for their aftercare in the form of placement in employment, with lodgings provided in many instances. The majority of the witnesses who reported being discharged to employers as live-in labourers had spent most of their lives in an institution and/or reported that they had no known family contacts. A small number of witnesses noted that the intervention of the Agricultural Inspectors was helpful in obtaining ‘back’ wages and having social welfare contributions credited where they had been denied.

There were 12 witness accounts of being visited following discharge by lay or religious staff from the School and of receiving valued assistance from the religious staff when they got into difficulties. In some situations where work placements broke down alternative positions were found, mostly in better circumstances.

There were a number of witness reports of employment placements that provided enduring support. Several witnesses spoke with feeling about the families they worked for who, in the words of one witness, ‘showed me the only kindness I had ever known’. Another witness stated: I didn’t get much preparation leaving the School at 16. The family I went to helped me, they stood me in great stead and I am still in touch with them.

Thirty two (32) witnesses from a small number of Schools reported receiving some post-discharge support during the 1970s and 1980s. For example, 10 witnesses reported that accommodation in a hostel was arranged for them when they were discharged and was described as ‘a halfway house for institutionalised boys trying to find their way. Conditions there were excellent’. Another hostel was reported as being helpful through its policy of not charging residents from Schools for their accommodation until they found employment. However, while witness reports of being discharged from Schools since the 1970s indicated improvements in discharge planning, and that some preparation for independent living and follow-up were provided, such improvements were inconsistent.

A number of witnesses presented the Committee with copies of correspondence between their parents, Resident Managers, gardaí and Department of Education officials relating to their early release. Eight (8) witnesses reported being granted early release to their parents following such parental intervention.

The aspects of everyday life described in this chapter provided the context in which witnesses experienced the abuse reported in the following chapter.