Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Physical abuse

A witness, who reported he was wrongly accused of stealing from another resident, described being told by the Resident Manager ‘to take your punishment like a man’. He was then taken to the office and beaten by two Brothers, on the face, buttocks, hands, wrist and arm until the witness confessed to something he had not done. In a number of Schools the Resident Manager was reported by witnesses to be involved directly in the physical punishment of residents along with other religious staff and in other Schools there were reports of the Resident Manager being called on to agree a punishment.

Witnesses reported a catalogue of injuries to themselves and co-residents as a result of physical abuse by religious and lay staff members in the 26 Schools reported to the Committee. Two hundred and twenty four (224) reports were heard of injuries including: breaks to ribs, noses, wrists, arms and legs, injuries to head, genitalia, back, mouth, eye, ear, hand, jaw, face and kidney. Sixty four (64) witnesses reported being left unable to walk, sit, stand or lie down as a result of those injuries. Other injuries included burns, dog bites, lacerations, broken teeth, dislocated shoulders, injuries to the soles of feet, and burst chilblains. Chilblains were a common ailment in the pre-1970s period and male witnesses reported experiencing severe pain after being struck on hands and legs with chilblains. Witnesses reported that at times they were beaten until their chilblains burst and bled. I suffered from chilblains. I had poor circulation, really festering sores, your fingers as white as sheets, I had to dress my own. I couldn’t get my feet into shoes. One morning after very heavy rain the ground was water-logged, I didn’t want to go over and get my feet wet and aggravate the condition ...(chilblains).... He ...(Fr X)... caught me up in his arm and took me across the yard, walked me across ... on sore feet on the wet ground ... and dropped me in the hall. ... He took his revenge out on me, he walloped me with his stick, he walloped me for a full quarter of an hour or more. • He ...(Br X)... went around all the beds, you had the clothes, blankets and stuff rolled back and if you made one mistake, whack right across the legs. If you couldn’t get the right answer or recite the Our Father or Hail Mary, all in Irish, he would whack you across the soles of the feet with a bamboo cane. I saw boys there who couldn’t walk the next day. You were supposed to learn while you were in bed and recite it for him.

Many witnesses reported more than one injury, which included the following: One hundred and eighty six (186) witnesses reported being marked, bruised or swollen with welts. Seventy one (71) witnesses reported blood being drawn. Sixty (60) witnesses reported eye and/or ear injuries. Forty four (44) witnesses reported head lacerations. Thirty two (32) witnesses reported injuries to their hand, three of whom reported permanent damage. Twenty eight (28) witness reported broken ribs, arms or legs. Twenty three (23) witnesses reported injury to their genitalia. Twenty two (22) witnesses reported receiving injuries that left them unconscious. Twenty two (22) witnesses reported being scalded or burned. Twenty (20) witnesses reported broken noses. Twenty (20) witnesses reported split lips or broken teeth. Seventeen (17) witnesses reported injuries to their face or jaw. Thirteen (13) witnesses reported injuries to their feet. Eight (8) witnesses reported injuries to their back. Four (4) witnesses reported suffering kidney damage. Three (3) witnesses reported being stabbed with farm and kitchen implements.

There were multiple injuries reported in relation to particular Schools and staff members, for instance 126 witnesses from three Schools reported injuries including broken bones, fractured limbs, head injuries, broken teeth and being left bleeding and bruised. Six (6) witnesses from one School named a particular Brother as the perpetrator of severe injuries, including broken noses and facial injuries: I lost my 2 front teeth because of a whack like that ...demonstrated strike of the hand... out in the yard. If you got too near him...(Br X)... he would just whack you, he’d flatten you. ... A few days later I was sent to the doctor because my mouth was all up. ... He sent me on to the dentist in ...named town....

Twenty five (25) witnesses reported being hospitalised for different non-accidental injuries, as described above. Six (6) of these reports referred to one particular School. Others described co-residents being hospitalised for treatment of their injuries following physical assault by a religious or lay staff member. Fr ...X... laid me out cold for talking; he walloped me so fast I couldn’t see it coming. He broke my nose, I had to go to hospital. He knocked me clean out. I had 2 big black eyes and the nurse sent me to the hospital. • The 2 years I had there I did not get over it for many, many years. I was shattered. ... I suffered fierce violence there. I saw one boy ...named co-resident... battered on the bog, he got such a beating from Br ...X... that his back was broken and he was shifted off to hospital in ...named town....

Witnesses reported that in a number of Schools a member of the religious staff or an older resident accompanied them to the hospital and in most cases spoke to the hospital staff on their behalf. Witnesses reported being warned by the person who had beaten them and by other staff to tell the doctor the injuries were caused accidentally. One day I was on the farm and we were messing, me and ...named co-resident... squirting milk at each other. There was a Mr ...X (named lay ancillary worker)... there and he told Br ...Y.... He ...(Br Y)... came over and dug his nails into the back of my ears and then he hit me with his clenched fists on the jaw and of course I went down. I was in the infirmary myself for 6 or 7 weeks after that because they smashed my jaw, my gum was all gone, inside of my face was all ripped. Br ...Y... took me to ...named hospital... he done all the talking and he said “if anyone asks you, you have an abscess on your gum”. I was back in the infirmary, the treatment I was getting was hot salty water. It started getting a bit easier for me after that.

Nineteen (19) witnesses reported being treated by a nurse in the School for injuries, including broken bones and lacerations following physical abuse. There were 12 further reports of non-accidental injuries being treated by a visiting doctor and another 10 reports of witnesses spending lengthy periods of time in the infirmary while they recovered. Witnesses at times reported such treatments were abusive in themselves. My bed was near the medicine cabinet, there was this thing called horse iodine that they put on cuts the pain of it was unbelievable. ... I saw these 3 boys lining up and Br ...X... he painted their backside and legs with this stuff. I will never forget them jumping around and screaming in pain, it was just terrifying. • Mr ...X..., lay worker, he was staying there ...(in the School).... He’d stay for a few days and then he’d come back. He hit with something like half a board and a cane, beaten all over. He used a board on the soles of my feet and I couldn’t walk after it. I had to drag my feet and try to walk, it was that sore.

The 474 reports of physical abuse heard by the Committee identified 556 individuals by name as physically abusive, 110 of whom were also reported as sexually abusive.7 Witnesses reported being physically abused by a variety of personnel including religious and lay staff who were in positions including Resident Managers, teachers, and care and ancillary staff. It should be noted that Resident Managers or their designated deputies were authorised as Disciplinarians, as regulated. Witnesses also reported being physically abused by older co-residents. Seven (7) witnesses reported being physically abused by members of the public including visitors to the Schools and the employers on work placements.

In addition to those named by witnesses there were 30 reports of physical abuse by religious and lay staff and co-residents who were not identified by name. A number of witnesses who made reports of physical abuse to the Committee stated that they either did not wish to name the person who abused them or had no memory of the name of that person. He ...(Brother)... gave me a hiding. I don’t remember who that was, I didn’t know his name. It’s only the ones that really hurt you are the ones that stuck in your memory.

For the purpose of this Report the term ‘care staff’ is used to describe religious and lay staff whose main contact with the witnesses was in the context of their everyday care. Those described in the table below as care staff were reported to have been in charge of the dormitories and most activities of daily living such as personal hygiene, bathing, dressing, meals and recreation. Witnesses reported the increasing presence of trained childcare workers from the 1970s onwards in a number of Schools. The main distinction made between care and ancillary staff was that those described as care staff had a supervisory function while the ancillary workers were reported to have had designated tasks such as night watchman, working in the laundry, kitchen or on the farm. The following table shows the positions reported to be held by named physical abusers in, or associated with, the Schools:

Reported position held by named abusers	Males	Females
Religious
- Authority figure including Resident Manager	65	9
- Care staff	227	21
- Teacher	49	7
- Ancillary worker	53	2
- External priest	5	0
Lay
- Care staff	6	7
- Ancillary worker	42	5
- Teacher	27	8
Work placement provider	3	0
General public	4	0
Co-resident	15	1
Total	496	60

As may be seen in the above table, 394 of those named by witnesses as physically abusive (71%) were male religious staff within the Schools, a further 39 named abusers were religious Sisters. Ninety five (95) lay staff, 75 male and 20 female, were named by witnesses as perpetrators of physical abuse. Religious (staff and others)

Witnesses identified 399 male religious, 378 Brothers and 21 priests by name as physically abusive. As well as staff of the School, these included five priests who provided a pastoral service to the residents, members of a religious order on holiday and visiting religious staff who assisted with sport, recreation and other activities. The number of reports of physical abuse in relation to particular religious staff varied considerably, as follows: Two hundred and eight (208) male religious were named once each by single witnesses. One hundred and thirty four (134) male religious were each reported as physically abusive by between two and nine witnesses.

Sixteen (16) Brothers in four particular schools were identified by name as physically abusive in 244 witness reports and a further 53 male religious were identified in multiple reports by witnesses from those Schools.

The religious staff identified as physically abusive were reported to have been engaged in all areas of the Schools, including the classrooms, dormitories, kitchens, workshops, farms and recreation areas. Br ...X... he went over and got an ordinary leather ... and he started beating me. I was so frightened, he had the door locked, it was inside in the refectory. He beat me for a long, long time. ... I had marks on my legs, marks on my back. I was terrified with the beating I got. ... Another young fellow ...named co-resident... I seen the same Brother one day in the kitchen picking up a big iron poker and giving him a ferocious belt across the head.

Sixty-five (65) of the named male religious staff reported as physically abusive were identified by witnesses as being in positions of authority, including Resident Managers within the Schools. The remaining 329 Brothers and priests named by witnesses were reported to be care, teaching and ancillary staff within the Schools. Witnesses described some of the religious staff having different roles within the School and at times were not clear whether the ascribed role was in fact the individual’s dominant function within the institution. For example, witnesses referred to religious staff in authority as the Superior, Reverend Mother, School Master, Officer in Charge, Head Brother or Sister, and Brother or Priest in Charge. He ...(Br X)... reported me to Br ...Y (Resident Manager).... He used deal out the punishment for the running away or any trouble in the yard. Br ...Y... he told me to get into ...named location in School... that was where all the punishment was dished out. I was made face the wall in there for maybe half an hour or that. He made me sit down, there was a school bench.... Br ...X... came in and the other one ...(Br Y)... got the other side and he grabbed me arms, made me put me arms over the bench so you couldn’t get your legs out. They pulled me trousers down, he had ... they used to call it a black jack, it was like the rim of a pram that was broke, the rubber rim, they used get that behind on you, they used hit you with that. The pain off that was unbelievable that day ...distressed.... I got about 10 of them that day. Then I was put back on the wall, they came back after about an hour and they done it again, no Br ...X... did it, but the 2 of them was there.