Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Neglect

A number of witnesses reported that their parents brought them to hospital while they were at home on leave, two of whom had their broken arms examined and treated. Their injuries were sustained as a result of physical assault in the School by religious staff. Both witnesses said they had not received any treatment at the time of the initial injury in the School. Another witness was hospitalised while on weekend leave for treatment of abscesses that had been neglected in the School.

Three (3) witnesses reported the death of boys who they described were ignored or neglected when they complained of being sick. One witness reported his belief that a co-resident died as a result of eating poisonous berries. Two (2) witnesses reported being hospitalised following suicide attempts in the context of abuse episodes. They were transferred back to the institution without psychological assessment or treatment.

Witness accounts of inadequate supervision and lack of appropriate care and protection were heard in relation to all decades. Witnesses described supervision ranging from ‘patrolling’ yards with sticks and the regimented use of a whistle, to young children being left in the care of older residents without any supervising adult staff. ‘If the babies were crying some boys would be designated to get up and have a look, I remember turning them around or moving them. What were they doing letting an 8 year old boy do that?’ Large numbers of residents were routinely under the supervision of a single staff member or other co-residents in areas including classrooms, trade shops, farms, bogs, dormitories, refectories and yards. ‘I recall only 2 Brothers being in charge of 200 boys; the bullies were given a free rein.’

One hundred and thirty eight (138) witnesses reported that the lack of supervision of religious and lay staff by managers facilitated opportunities for physical, sexual and emotional abuse. I was in there for 4 years, Fr ...X (Resident Manager)... was in charge. I only saw him 5 or 6 times in the 4 years.... Lack of supervision by priests who were in charge meant that prefects had a free hand and when I reported ...(the abuse)... to Fr ...X... he wouldn’t hear of it.

Similarly, witnesses reported that the lack of supervision of older residents provided opportunities for bullying and abuse among co-residents. Forty (40) witnesses from 10 Schools stated that the absence of supervision led to bullying of younger or more vulnerable residents by co-residents. ‘Bullying thrived in the absence of supervision ... and was condoned by religious staff.’

Night watchmen were reported to have been employed by nine of the Schools referred to by witnesses. There were 43 separate reports of physical and sexual abuse by these men, who had responsibility for residents in the dormitories during the night. Three (3) night watchmen were consistently described as drunk while on duty, patrolling with a stick that they used freely both to waken witnesses to use the toilet during the night and to punish them if they had wet their beds.

Staffing levels were commonly reported by witnesses to have been inadequate over substantial periods of time. The Committee heard a small number of accounts where former residents remained on as staff. It was believed they had no contact with their own family, were not trained, and were engaged as live-in staff. These staff were involved in supervising residents and were frequently described as emphasising order and discipline in a harsh and abusive manner.

The Committee also heard reports from witnesses that changes of staff and Resident Managers could have a noticeable impact on the atmosphere in the School, increasing or decreasing the risk of further abuse for residents: ‘The peaceful life of the School was shattered when this Brother came. He was brutal and went berserk. He enjoyed beating us and took every chance to do it’.

The lack of adequate supervision and follow-up was reported by witnesses who were placed by the Schools with ‘foster’ and ‘holiday’ families or on work placements while still under the age of 16 years. A witness who had been placed with a farming couple without follow-up or supervision when he was 10 years old had to work hard from the day he arrived and being told by the ‘foster’ father: We gave the nuns £10 and a box of chocolates for you, if we had bought a pair of suck calves they would be worth more to us now. He was never paid, but had been ‘fed well and not been beaten’. This witness also reported being sexually abused by local men who he believed were aware he had come from an Industrial School.

One hundred and ninety seven (197) witnesses (48%) reported that there was no planning or arrangements made for their discharge or aftercare. Witnesses consistently stated that they were not adequately prepared for independent living, felt they belonged nowhere and to nobody, and that the transition to the outside world was traumatic. These reports referred to discharges in all decades. The areas of neglect most frequently reported in relation to preparation for discharge by male witnesses were the following: Lack of acknowledgement regarding separation and loss Lack of preparation and training in basic life skills Lack of assessment, supervision and follow-up of placements Lack of opportunity to develop social and relationship skills.

The most common report regarding discharge was of residents being given a day’s notice that they were leaving the School and given the fare either home or to other destinations. For many witnesses who had been reared in institutional care since birth and who had no known family, no knowledge of or links with the outside world, this lack of preparation and opportunity to say goodbye to siblings, co-residents and staff was often catastrophic. In these circumstances a number of witnesses stated that they were subsequently imprisoned, homeless or in emotional turmoil in the immediate years after their discharge from Schools. There was no aftercare; I got long pants for the first time and let go ... I was lost, I wanted to go back. • When I left on my sixteenth birthday, I got nothing, no job, no advice, nobody said goodbye. I walked down ... to get the bus and it was the loneliest day of my life. • There were some of them ...(co-residents)... who didn’t even get the correct fare for where they were going to, it was just “welcome to the world”. They got nothing.

The institutional regime, the abrupt nature of their discharge and the lack of any training in basic life skills such as handling money, budgeting, using public transport or of participating in any social network left witnesses and residents unprepared for integration with the outside world. Many witnesses reported not being given any advice or assistance to help them cope with everyday living away from the institutional life to which they had been accustomed.

Sixty eight (68) witnesses described discharge arrangements ranging from being given a name and address on a piece of paper and the train or bus fare, to being sent directly as live-in workers to farmers and shop owners whom they had never met before. Witnesses reported that in their opinion the lack of assessment of these placements and follow-up supervision of the care provided led to a number of those witnesses being abused physically and sexually when placed by the School. Thirteen (13) witnesses were sexually and/or physically abused by their employers and others in work placements following discharge.

One hundred and twenty five (125) witnesses (30%) reported that they were discharged home to their families. Many arrived at their family home to find that their parents had not been notified of their return, or that they no longer lived there. The day before my sixteenth birthday I was dropped in the city centre with 10 shillings by Br ...X... I did not know where the family was – they had been re-housed.

A number reported being unable to settle at home, that they felt misunderstood and out of place. They could not talk about what had happened to them while they were in the Schools and many witnesses reported having no idea how to relate to others, including their own families, without being either frightened or aggressive.