Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Physical abuse

This section describes reports of actual incidents of physical abuse, non-accidental injury and lack of protection from such abuse given in evidence by witnesses to the Committee. The types of physical abuse reported included hitting, punching, kicking, flogging, and bodily assault with implements. The Committee heard disturbing accounts of severe assaults causing injuries that required medical intervention. Witnesses also reported being abused by being immersed in water, being burned, and subjected to what they believed to be deliberate and persistent physical cruelty.

There were 474 reports of physical abuse involving 26 Schools given in evidence by 403 male witnesses (98%), some of whom were admitted to more than one School. While many witnesses reported that the abuse was pervasive, they particularly wished to report extraordinary incidents from their experience. Other witnesses reported multiple episodes of physical abuse. Witnesses reported being physically abused by religious and lay staff and others including: visiting clergy, members of the general public and men in work and holiday placements. Witnesses also reported being physically abused by co-residents.

The number of witness reports heard in relation to physical abuse in different Schools varied, as follows: Four (4) Schools were collectively the subject of 230 reports.6 Four (4) Schools were the subject of 20-34 reports, totalling 111 reports. Eight (8) Schools were the subject of 6-19 reports, totalling 86 reports. Ten (10) Schools were the subject of 1-5 reports, totalling 18 reports.

The Schools that were the subject of 230 reports accounted for 49% of all physical abuse reports by male witnesses.

Physical abuse was reported in combination with the other three types of abuse. There were 166 reports of combinations of all four abuse types reported by the male witnesses. See Table 18:

Abuse types	Number of reports	%
Physical, emotional, neglect and sexual	166	35
Physical, emotional and neglect	120	25
Physical and neglect	66	14
Physical, neglect and sexual	49	10
Physical	24	5
Physical, emotional and sexual	20	4
Physical and emotional	15	3
Physical and sexual	14	3
Total reports	474	(100)*

In total 249 witness reports of physical abuse (53%) were combined with reports of sexual abuse and 24 reports refer to physical abuse alone.

The following table shows the distribution of witness accounts of physical abuse across the decades covered by this Report.

Decade of discharge	Number of physical abuse reports	%
Pre-1960s	197	42
1960-69	202	43
1970-79	58	12
1980-89	17	4
Total	474	(100)*

While the largest number of physical abuse reports (202) related to the period of discharge 1960-1969, 77 of those witnesses spent the greatest proportion of their time in the Schools during the preceding decade.

Witnesses described a daily existence that involved the possibility of being hit by a staff member at any time, for any reason or for no reason. Witnesses also reported being physically abused by co-residents. It is notable that witnesses at times described daily, casual and random physical abuse as normal and wished to report only the times when the frequency and severity of the abuse was such that they were injured or in fear for their lives. Three hundred and forty six (346) of the 403 witnesses reported that they were subjected to frequent physical violence; they described a climate of pervasive fear in the Schools and provided consistent reports of generally not knowing why they were being beaten.

The forms of physical abuse reported by witnesses to the Committee included punching, flogging, assault and bodily attacks, hitting with the hand, kicking, ear pulling, hair pulling, head shaving, beating on the soles of the feet, burning, scalding, stabbing, severe beatings with or without clothes, being made to kneel and stand in fixed positions for lengthy periods, made to sleep outside overnight, being forced into cold or excessively hot baths and showers, hosed down with cold water before being beaten, beaten while hanging from hooks on the wall, being set upon by dogs, being restrained in order to be beaten, physical assaults by more than one person, and having objects thrown at them.

The locations where physical abuse was reported to have taken place included: classrooms, offices, cloakrooms, dormitories, showers, infirmaries, refectories, the bedrooms of staff members, churches, work areas and trade shops, fields, farmyards, play/sports areas and outdoor sheds. I had a hiding in the boot room, you had to take your shirt off, you were completely naked and he ...(Br X)... beat me with a strap and a hurley stick on the behind and the legs and that. • I was beaten up quite a few times for not making the bed right, I had to go to the boot room. We used have long night shirts then you know, he ...(Br X)... dragged it off me, naked and whop, he knocked hell out of me, he knocked the shit out of me ... he hit with a leather strap with coins in it. One Brother ... he used a tyre he did, a bicycle tyre, it used to wrap around your arm. That was for wiping my nose in my sleeve, he didn’t like that, it “wasn’t a nice thing” he said.

A small number of witnesses stated that Brothers were trained to beat residents and reports were heard of religious Brothers demonstrating the exercise of discipline to trainee Brothers. One day it was ...visitor’s day... they used to pick about half a dozen lads. You would be called to the hall. I was picked once and they would actually show the ...visiting student Brothers... how to do the hiding. The Brother who was in charge of the playground, mostly Br ...X... or Br ...Y... would show them how it’s done, they would give you a hiding to show them and then they would have a go, with the black jack ...(leather)... with loops of lead in it or steel.

Witnesses reported being introduced to a strict regime from the moment of their arrival in the School. We were met by Br ...X... he ruled the roost, he told us about the rules, said if we ran away there was severe punishment, the second time our head would be shaved and the third time we would be sent to ...named School.... He then stripped us off, told us to bend over the desk; he hit the desk with a leather strap and said, “Say the Our Father”. I could not say it. He hit me across the legs and warned me not to step out of line. He told us to get in the shower, cold water, “to scrub away your sins”, with carbolic soap. He then left and came back with clothes, comb ... he hit me with the strap when I had the clothes on because I should be in pyjamas. We went to the dormitory, the boys were asleep, he said, “This will always be your bed unless you wet the bed, then you will end up with the smellies with Mr ...Y...”. It was dark, there was no food. I was very upset and frightened. Then that night Mr ...Y... came walking down with his walking stick, he touched my penis with the stick and said, “Don’t ever let me catch you”. Later I could hear kids crying as he lashed kids with a stick, getting them up for the toilet. That was my first night in ...named School.... • The day I arrived there, I was in the yard and there was all these boys, they all seemed like giants. I remember running up to this man and saying “hello Father” he laid into me, he was a very cruel man, I thought he was a priest, he said “don’t call me Father”. He laid me on the ground, he gave me a few terrible clatters and I was terrified from that moment. He was Br ...X... I was terrified of him, oh Lord! ...distressed... he was just cruel.

In addition to physical abuse as the result of bodily assault by punching, hitting and kicking, witnesses reported a variety of implements were used to beat and physically abuse residents. The ‘leather’ was the most commonly reported implement with 381 witness accounts heard of its use in all 26 Schools. Witnesses described the leather strap as strips of leather sewn together, measuring about two inches wide, half an inch thick and about 18 inches long. One end was described by a number of witnesses as shaped for a handgrip. A number of witnesses reported that some of these leather straps contained metal or coins to add weight. Five (5) witnesses provided accounts of either making or seeing these embellished leather straps being made in the bootmaking workshops. They used the leather for the least excuse. It was heavy, stitched and with waxed ends. It was very painful, you would scream in pain. As convent boys we didn’t have a chance. The other boys, the city kids who were tough, and the Brothers, all picked on us. We stuck together which wasn’t a good idea. • Some of the Brothers had different leathers, I know because I made them when I was 14, in the boot room, some of them had little tiny leads in them, some had coins, some were straight. They weren’t soft, they were hard.

A witness reported that while he was being beaten the leather split apart and coins fell out. Two (2) others reported being marked by the key sewn into the end of the leather strap. Another witness reported being sent with a new strap from the workshop to a classroom, where the Brother told him to hold out his hand to test it for him. He was struck a number of times on each hand before being told it was satisfactory and that he could return to the workshop.