Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Physical abuse

Running away was a feature of life in the Schools and the majority of witnesses made some reference to either running away, thinking about doing so, or observing what happened to returned absconders. Witnesses consistently reported that residents who absconded or ran away were severely beaten and flogged upon their return to the School. The public nature and severity of the beatings were described as traumatic, and made a lasting impression on those who witnessed them in addition to serving as a caution against absconding. Reports of running away were frequently accompanied by accounts of persistent physical and sexual abuse. I ran away a few times. He ...(Br X)... was trying always to put his hand down my leg.... (On return to the School)... I was put up on rafters. There was an old shed there, it was a barn, I was tied to the rafters, he ...(Br X)... had the rope over the top, I was like that ...demonstrated spread out facing down... he lashed me with the leather, over the back and down the arms, that happened on 4 or 5 occasions, I ran away again after that.

There were 95 witness reports from 13 Schools of severe beatings as punishment for absconding throughout the entire period covered by the Report. The most frequent and most severe beatings pertained to the discharge period prior to 1970. The forms of physical abuse reported for absconding included: public beatings partly or fully naked, hair being shaved, deprivation of food and transfers to more distant and what were believed to be more restrictive institutions. In one School there were several reports of returned absconders being forced to wear oversized clogs as a deterrent. ‘They used to give me clogs so that I wouldn’t run away, or boots that were too big you couldn’t get far in them.’ Beatings of returned absconders were not always conducted in view of the other residents but were reported to be regularly within earshot, in the Resident Manager’s office, on the stairwell or in another room routinely used for such purpose.

Thirty (30) witnesses reported that they had their heads shaved as part of the punishment for absconding, six of whom reported having it done more than once. Witnesses reported that head shaving marked them as a returned absconder and therefore subject to further random beatings from both staff and co-residents.

There were 18 witness reports of absconders from three different Schools being beaten and otherwise punished by co-residents following public beatings by religious staff members. It was the reported practice in one School that the returned absconders were placed in the yard and the other residents were encouraged to kick and punch them while staff watched: I ran away when I was 12, I was caught and 2 of them ...(Br X and Br Y)... would lay into you and not only the Brothers but the lads as well, especially the monitors. They were told they could not see their film because of me, I got the head shaved, a scissors and the hand clip. • One day a gang of us went for a walk into a field, we were told we could. They had farm workers out with dogs looking for us. We were caught and brought back. We were taken onto the yard, they let the dogs go ...(attacking)... and the boys would line up and hit you with whatever they had in their hand, kick you, you had to run through the line. This was a punishment to let the boys know that if it ever happened again this is what would happen. That night you were beaten again, you were thrown over the bed ...crying....

A small number of witnesses described being forced to search for boys who ran away. One witness describes: ‘(Br X)... forced me to catch lads who were absconding, if you didn’t find them you’d get their hidings as well’.

Four (4) witnesses from two different Schools reported that they were beaten on the soles of their feet with a cane and leather strap as a punishment for running away. Witnesses from three other Schools reported being made to stand or kneel in the recreation yards following their beatings and were ostracised by their peers. Two (2) witnesses from the latter Schools reported being made to kneel in the yard for several hours in their underpants in winter and were incontinent while kneeling there. The punishment for absconding in a number of Schools was reported to include being put on reduced food and being forbidden to associate with others. Witnesses described being made to walk around the yard alone for several weeks. Others reported being made to kneel in the refectory while they ate bread and water. This punishment was described as continuing for days and up to three weeks in one instance. One witness reported that when he was brought back after running away his head was shaved and he was later taken from his bed, stripped and beaten, punched and kicked by a group of six Brothers in front of other residents. Anyway, 3 of us decided that we could not stick it ...(being beaten)... anymore, every time you looked he ...(Br X)... was after you. We could not take it, we ran away. We were out for about a fortnight and we were caught. I did not get flogged at the time but ...named 2 co-residents ...(were told)... “take off your pants” and they got 25 stripes. Now, I didn’t because I was 2 years younger and only had been there a while. The 3 of us were put into the refectory, they got 3 mugs and 3 chairs and said “kneel down” and we were like that for a week.... We had to kneel on anthracite coal in the kitchen, my knees were all bleeding.

A further punishment associated with absconding was depriving the other residents of watching the weekly film. This particular punishment was reported to prompt residents to abuse those who had run away in retaliation for missing out on this popular treat, as one witness described: I was put outside ...(yard punishment)... for about 3 months. Then after about 3 months they would let you go to the film but they would not let you watch it. You would have to sit with your back to the film and everybody would be watching you. It was just sheer terror really, sheer fear. Fear was the most cruellest part of it.

Five (5) witnesses reported that they were transferred directly to other Schools with harsher regimes as punishment for absconding.

One hundred and fifty seven (157) witnesses reported being physically assaulted in the classroom. Witnesses described the liberal use of the leather, cane and wooden ruler or stick on the face, palms, wrists, tips of the fingers, forearms, legs, backs of the hands, across the shoulders, back and the bottom. Learning was reported to have been dominated by the fear of punishment for various reasons including for not knowing the correct answer, being left handed, being unable to read when called upon and being unable to speak clearly, as described by a witness discharged in the 1960s: If he ...(Br X)... asked a question and you put the hand up, you got a beating if you could not ...(give the right answer).... If you were too slow with the answer you got beaten. ... I got to the stage that I didn’t answer because I would get a beating. Everything operated on fear. There was one Br ...X... if you done it too slow he hit you, he had 2 leathers, if he appeared on the scene there was fear. No matter what you done, you would always get it wrong. If you frowned or a flinch ... he would hit you.

Witnesses who have struggled with poor literacy all their lives described years of humiliation and abuse in the classroom. In four Schools, witnesses described being bent over desks, forced to remove their trousers and being beaten in front of the entire class. Witnesses described being restrained in different ways including having their heads wedged in a window and in a drawer while they were beaten on the bare bottom. The following is an additional account of abuse in the classroom: Br ...X... was a very, very hard man. In each classroom they had a special stool that you stood up on and you got it across the legs or the arse. Everything was done in public. It depended on what was going on, if there was laughing or if you threw something.

Other classroom punishments reported were: ear pulling, being lifted up by the hair or cheeks, beaten on the soles of the feet, having objects thrown at the head or body and being made to stand facing the wall with arms elevated until fatigued, when a beating would ensue. Several witnesses reported having their face slapped or boxed repeatedly while their head was held steady by a tuft of hair. This practice was referred to by witnesses as a ‘jaw warmer’ or ‘rabbit punch’. One time in the class, my arms would be black and blue, both arms, because I couldn’t read a couple of lines in Irish, he ...(Br X)... beat me.... He’d put you in the corner, your hands would be up like that ...(displayed arms raised)... if you dropped them you’d get the leather. He put me in the back of the class and he’d tell you to run to him, he’d put his fist out like that ...(indicated fist and outstretched arm)... and you’d run into it.... It would be the kick in the shins you would get off him. As soon as you hit the deck he would pull you up by the ears for what we used to call the rabbit punch, you know, like that ...indicated hand movement... with the side of his hand on the neck, he’d chop you, you’d go down on the deck. I was out ...(unconscious)... that day, you’d be reeling ... an 11 year old child.

In addition to the consistently severe forms of physical abuse reported in the context of bed-wetting, running away and the classroom, male witnesses also reported being routinely physically abused in the process of various other everyday activities. Examples of these activities were personal care, recreation and work.

Witnesses discharged before 1970 reported the widespread practice of residents being beaten in the dormitories, washrooms and cloakrooms. One hundred and thirty two (132) witnesses described such beatings as punishment for not having washed properly or quickly enough, being last out of the bathroom, having torn or worn clothing or footwear or a missing item of clothing. Holes in socks, jumpers or footwear and tears in trousers or jackets were also described as a common cause of punishment. Witnesses also reported being beaten when they took their worn or torn clothes to be repaired and hit if they did not have them mended or clean before an inspection. In the morning time there would be an inspection, if there was a button missing you’d get whacked. You’d get a smack in the ear with the hand. • I got such a hiding because my pants were soiled. One day I put up my hand, I wanted to go to the toilet but the Brother he wouldn’t let me go. I had to wash my underpants and then at the inspection they were dirty, I got a hiding for that. • You’d be hit if your lace was open, if your clothes weren’t clean, if your hair wasn’t combed. They’d come up at you from behind or from the side and hit you at full force – you wouldn’t see it coming.

Random beatings in bed at night were also described. Night watchmen were reported to have patrolled the dormitories during the night in nine Schools. Both the night watchmen and religious staff are reported to have checked that residents lay in a particular way in their beds, reports of this experience vary over the years and between the different institutions. Witnesses from some Schools consistently reported being beaten if they were found lying with their hands under the bedclothes, others were beaten if they did not have their arms and hands crossed over their chest in a particular way. Witnesses believed the reason for this enforced practice was to avoid what religious staff referred to as the ‘sin’ of masturbation. You couldn’t sleep on your back, your ass would be so sore ...(after a beating)... you’d want to sleep on your belly, but they wouldn’t let you sleep, you had to sleep in a particular way, on your back.

Showers were reported as locations of abuse in six institutions. The most commonly reported reasons for being beaten in the showers were not washing properly, ducking out of unbearably hot or cold water or attempting to avoid sexual assault. Religious and some lay staff were reported to supervise the showers, usually alone. Some residents described being checked as they left the shower area and were pulled aside for punishment if not considered to be properly washed, at other times it was reported that they were randomly struck with either a leather strap or a stick as they were showering or as they filed past the supervising staff member. A specific complaint about these beatings was the pain of being beaten on wet skin and the humiliation of being beaten while naked. Showers were too cold or scalding.... All the time you had to steel yourself, some of my worst nightmares are of the dormitory and the showers, they were a nightmare. Someone, Br ...X... would turn it ...(water)... on, it was too hot or too cold, you jumped out and suddenly you would see this black figure, and you would see a strap coming at you and you would be leathered, you would hear this series of screams all along the cubicles as another ...(co-resident)... got it. The worst for me was you were trapped, you could not hide in the cubicle. They were the danger times, you couldn’t disappear in the shower.