Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Physical abuse

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.

Witnesses also reported being physically abused when they were sent to the infirmary for treatment of an injury or ailment. Four (4) Brothers who were in charge of the infirmaries in different Schools were identified as beating residents who were sent to the infirmary. One Brother was named by seven witnesses as abusive in this manner. It was reported that some lay nurses were also harsh, including one who was reported by seven witnesses: ‘she was cruel, vicious, would pour a bottle ...(of iodine)... all over you if she was in a bad mood, in your eyes, burn your scabs’.

Eight (8) witnesses reported being beaten in the context of religious practice, including the performance of their duties as altar boys, being late, falling asleep or being inattentive at Mass, and forgetting to say prayers in the refectory.

One hundred and sixty five (165) witnesses reported being physically abused while involved in recreational activities. Recreation areas including yards, playing fields, gyms, recreation halls and music rooms were described as places where it was necessary to be alert and to avoid staff who took advantage of opportunities to abuse residents. There were reports from a number of Schools of drill in the yard being routine, under the supervision of lay drill masters.

Witnesses from all Schools described being physically abused by religious staff in the course of playing football and hurling. Among the methods of abuse described was a practice of excessive use of force in play by certain priests and Brothers and putting less able residents or those selected for punishment between the goal posts as target practice for hurling and football.

In six Schools witnesses described being beaten for winning a game or a point against a Brother and/or being punished if the team lost a match against an outside team. This threat of punishment was described by one witness as making them ‘ferocious opponents with a reputation for being hard’. In the sports Br ...X... was involved in hurling and football, if you weren’t up to scratch, particularly hurling, a fist would come out of nowhere and he would hit you. You’d be walloped ...(by Br X)... on the field. • Br ...X... and Br ...Y... were like 2 bruisers going around, you wouldn’t mind the regular punches and belts as they were passing any day, but Br ...X... beat the shit out of me like I was a punch bag in front of all the others at a football match. ... He picked me up, head butted me, kicked me and left me in a terrible state to show me and all of us who was boss. I got the worst hiding ever ... beaten with the leather and stick. I had cracked ribs, my face was bruised and swollen, I was kicked in the head and stomach.