Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Knowledge of abuse

A number of witnesses reported being threatened that if they told anyone about the abuse they had experienced there would be more severe repercussions. Five witnesses stated that members of the religious staff visited them or their parents at home to reinforce their warning not to report or disclose their abuse. One time I had to go to hospital ...following severe beating.... Fr ...X... came down to my mother’s house, and he begged my mother, on his knees on the floor in my mother’s house for forgiveness for what they done. They beat me so bad they got worried. My mother forgave them, he wouldn’t go out of the house until she did. She told me this in later years. • Br ...X... followed me up to ...home town... and went up to my mother’s house, and he brought me over to a guest house and ...described sexual abuse.... At that time he threatened me that if I opened my mouth I would go back and do the time ...(remaining period of Court Order)... even in years to come, and at that time we were used to being told these things.

Disclosing abuse to Gardaí was reported to have occurred generally in the context of being returned to the School after absconding or when parents accompanied witnesses who were on leave to the Garda station to make a formal complaint. In a small number of instances witnesses reported their own abuse to Gardaí. In separate instances, four witnesses who absconded told the Gardaí who was returning them to the School that they expected to be badly beaten by the Brothers. The witnesses believed the Gardaí made some inquiries about this and as a result they escaped the usual beating meted out to returned absconders. Another witness reported that his mother told the Resident Manager she intended reporting the fact that he was being abused to the Gardaí; he stated his mother was pressurised into not contacting the Gardaí and subsequently the abuse stopped. I was marked ...(following beating)... after I ran away.... I wasn’t let out for 3 month after that, all the black and blue marks were gone there were just orange marks left .... When I went home I told me mother about the hidings and she took me down to ...named... police station. When I told the police he said “what School are you in?” and I said ...named School... and he said “what are you there for?” I said “not going to school” and he said “come on are you joking me or what?” I said “I’m there for not going to school” and he started laughing. My mother got a bit annoyed at him laughing at us, and they more or less kicked us out of the police station. After that I never told anyone, you wouldn’t trust anyone after that.

Witnesses reported that disclosing abuse elicited varying responses including being ignored, punished and not believed, in addition to having the reported abuse investigated and abusers being dismissed or transferred from the School. Witnesses stated that the strict regime within the Schools, together with the harsh enforcement of rules and the constant threat of physical abuse left them feeling powerless and unprotected. Two fellas went to Confession and told the priests what was happening about the beating. The next day we were all brought up and they were beaten, severely beaten and we were told “whatever happens in here stays here”. • We ran away, made it to ...named town.... The police car stopped us and asked us where we were going, and where we had come from ... and he said “why are you running away?” My brother told him about the beatings ... we didn’t want to say anything about the sexual.... He ...(garda)... brought us back to ...named School... and told the nun what we were saying. They really tortured us after that. There was a man ...named lay care staff... and there was another woman and there was Sr ...X.... They beat us with whatever come to hand. That time you couldn’t say anything against nuns or priests or anything like that.... • Afterwards I met Br ...X... going down the stairs, he beat the crap out of me. “You know to keep your mouth shut” he’d say “you know what you’ll get if you don’t keep your mouth shut”.... It was complete fear, I couldn’t tell anyone, the fear you know.

Fifty seven (57) witnesses reported that when they disclosed abuse or it was evident by their injuries that they were being abused they were ignored and the abuse continued, leading them to believe that aggression and violence was part of the culture of the School. A number of witnesses stated that it was their belief that both religious and lay staff knew that residents were being abused and were at times sympathetic but were powerless or unwilling to change anything. He ...(Br X)... tried to rape me every chance he got.... He nearly killed me in the hay barn, he got me up this ladder sitting on top of the hay, he was mucking about with me, at first I thought it was just horse play, he was trying to get my trousers down....I screamed and he put his hand over my mouth. Mr ...Y (lay ancillary worker)... heard the scream and he came in, he was only there for a few seconds, he saw that Br ...X... had his hands over my mouth. I threw myself down the bottom, I was lucky it was 12 or 14 foot down, and I ran out and said to him “don’t you ever touch me again”. He said he would kill me if I ever opened my mouth, he never touched me again after that. • He ...(Br X)... beat me up, my lip was busted, my eye was swollen and all my face was red. Nobody asked me what happened. None of the other Brothers said anything.... No Brother entered the domain of another without knocking and getting permission first. • The ...(Resident Manager)... knew what was happening. They ...(Brothers)... were sadists, they were evil and cruel. Of course they knew what was happening ... to say they didn’t is like saying you were standing by a motorway and saw no traffic.

Many witnesses reported that the risk of being deprived of family visits or being prevented from going home on leave deterred them from disclosing abuse. Others reported that when they did tell someone they were being abused they were either ignored or not believed and as a result they learned to remain silent, believing that nobody would listen to them. A witness who told a priest in Confession about being sexually abused reported that he was told to ‘keep your thoughts to yourself as you could hurt so many people’. Another witness who told his parents that he had been sexually abused reported that: My mother and my father came up to visit me and I told them what had happened ...(sexual abuse)... they confronted Br ...X.... He had a story, told them I was sick and I was hallucinating and they believed him.

Forty four (44) witnesses reported being severely beaten in the context of disclosing both physical and sexual abuse and that the prospect of further beatings was generally sufficient to maintain silence. Witnesses reported being beaten when they told others including staff members, priests in Confession, police and visitors or their parents or relatives that they had been beaten or otherwise abused. Witnesses described an atmosphere of fear that prevented talking about being abused due to the risk of further abuse, as witnesses described: Br ...X... punched a boy in front of all the staff ... to make him retract his story of sexual abuse against Br ...Y... and to make the boy tell everyone he had engaged in sexual activity with another resident. You learned that talking only led one way ... to a beating. • He ...(Br X)... asked me what had happened, and there was a rule in ...named School... that you did not tell on another Brother because he would beat you up. So I could not tell him and he kept me in the dormitory for a few days and the same thing happened again ...(the sexual abuse continued)....

A witness who disclosed being sexually abused by a Brother while on an outing reported the consequence for him: The next morning I told ...co-resident (about physical and sexual abuse)... and he took me to Br ...X (Resident Manager)... and he said I was talking “badness”. I told him exactly what had happened, and he gave me a hiding, he punched and kicked me. He used a short stick, blackjacks we used to call them. He used to bend you over the bench, sometimes a monitor used to hold you or sometimes another Brother. But this time he took me to the hall to give me the hiding.

Thirteen (13) witnesses who disclosed their experiences of abuse to their parents reported being discharged home or granted early release following representations to the Department of Education and other authorities. In some instances these representations were made directly to the Minister, also through local politicians, and by writing to the Department. In most reported instances the representations were made by the witnesses’ parents. There were three reports of early release being facilitated by external professionals. There were six further reports of representations being made to external authorities for the witnesses’ early release that were denied. One witness reported that his mother attempted to obtain the services of a solicitor, without success, in her effort to report abusive behaviour and obtain early release. Another witness reported being offered early release in return for his silence: After I was raped and got a terrible beating by 2 men, they beat the shit out of me. Their faces were distorted. I couldn’t see who they were. I barely crawled to the door, the nurse sent me to ...named... hospital. ... After I came out of the hospital Fr ...X... he was director at that time, he called me in and said ... “if you say you weren’t beaten up we will let you out of here in a few days”. I was just trying to get home, like, so I said I wasn’t beaten. He called all the Brothers in, there was a garda there and everything. He ...(Fr X)... said “now ... tell them what you told me”. So I said I wasn’t beaten. All I wanted to do was get home, so I got home.

A number of witnesses reported positive responses to disclosure, including 20 reports of the abuser being removed or transferred and 17 accounts of the abuser being reprimanded in some way. These witnesses reported being most often aware of positive outcomes of their disclosure by a cessation of abuse and a belief that their abuser was disciplined. Such outcomes followed eight reports to Resident Managers or others in charge, by the witnesses or their parents.

There were isolated accounts heard of positive outcomes as a result of the assertive intervention of parents, relatives, professionals and members of the public following disclosures of abuse by witnesses. For example a witness reported that when he absconded following a beating he was given a lift by a member of the public to whom he disclosed details of his abuse. This person treated him kindly and convinced him to return to the School where he spoke to the person in charge regarding the alleged abuse. The witness reported that he was not subsequently punished or beaten and that the person returned some time later to check on his welfare.

The Committee heard isolated reports of lay staff members being dismissed. In one situation a lay teacher was reported to the Resident Manager by a group of residents after an incident of sexual abuse. Other witnesses reported being moved to a different dormitory as protection from the negative attentions of a night watchman. Less frequent beatings from a care worker followed an intervention by one witness’s grandfather.

Witnesses recalled that Brothers ‘disappeared’ from time to time and it was assumed there had been complaints about them. The Committee heard a small number of accounts of Brothers leaving in the wake of a particular incident of abuse. Most often the reports were of a Brother’s absence noticed in the belief he had been ‘sent away’ as a witness described: ...he was evil, you would never know when he would come up behind you. He was taken out the back way one afternoon and he was never seen again, thanks be to God.

While 25 witnesses reported that disclosing abuse to their parents resulted in a positive outcome where the abuse ceased and they were either protected or released, 12 witnesses reported that their parents were unable or unwilling to believe that religious staff were abusive. Some parents were reported to regard the witnesses’ abuse as justified punishment for misconduct, believing ‘the Brothers could do no wrong’. I told my father what was going on ...(sexual abuse).... I told him what Br ...X... was doing to me, and the father thumped me and said “how dare you say anything like that?” There was nothing physical for him there to see, if I had cuts or bruises he would have believed me.

Witnesses response to abuse

Three hundred and eight (308) witnesses reported that fear was their predominant response to the abuse they both observed and experienced and that on occasion they feared for their own and others’ lives. Eleven (11) witnesses reported fearing that they would be killed. Witnesses also described harming or attempting to harm themselves in the context of being abused. They reported wishing that the physical or sexual abuse they were subjected to would cease and being unable to trust that anyone would help or believe them if they disclosed what was happening. We never told anyone what was happening. We thought they had the right to do what they were doing, to beat us. Why would we tell anyone when they would only beat us more? We were terrified of those men in long trousers, we were just little fellas in short trousers. The worst part for me was the dormitory and the bed-wetting ...(and the beatings).... I still wet the bed and hate going away anywhere because I am so embarrassed about it. I tried to kill myself there.

Ninety five (95) witnesses reported absconding and another 28 reported that they tried to run away in order to escape the environment of fear and repeated physical and sexual abuse, including flogging. Resisting sexual abuse was reported to generally result in physical violence and further sexual abuse. There were 14 witness accounts of sexual abuse ceasing following gestures of resistance and avoidance. In a number of instances these witness reported subsequently becoming the target of routine physical abuse. One day in the laundry he ...(Br X)... was coming up behind me, I knew what he wanted ...(sexual abuse)... and I just freaked. I picked up the first thing that came into my hand, I hit him and knocked his glasses off. He kicked me up the arse and that was it, I was out of the laundry ...(where witness had been working).... He was always at me after that, every chance he’d get he would have me down on my knees in the yard as punishment for something. • He, Fr...X..., would take out 6 or 7 for walks and would sexually abuse you, you know. If you protested well then he would not bring you the next time ...(out for walks).... I got punished when I protested, I got punished after that for no reason. • The farmers ...(residents who worked on farm)... were always the last in to the showers. It ...(sexual abuse)... only happened when you were clean. Other times you would stink and they wouldn’t touch you, so I used let myself really stink.