Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Emotional abuse

A small number of witnesses reported not being told when parents or close family members died and of not being allowed to attend their funerals. They commented that they were often given this information some time after the event. A witness who represented his School in boxing competitions reported that the news of his mother’s death was withheld for three months ‘so as not to take my mind off boxing’, hesitated: ‘they tried to break your spirit there’.

Twenty three (23) witnesses reported being denied visits home for holidays and that letters were withheld as punishment. The morning the boys were going home it was a nightmare ...(for those deprived of home visits as punishment).... They would get up, have their cup of tea, then they would be down in the hall with their little suitcases or whatever. We would be up in the dormitory looking out the window at them going up... to the bus. I never heard so many children screaming in all my life ...distressed.... I lost my privileges once, I was caught smoking. My mother tried to intervene with the Minister for Education, but he said no you have to do it according to the rules or whatever. I lost my holidays over it.

Circumstances surrounding the denial of contact with parents, withholding family information and the provision of false information about parents were reported by witnesses to be the cause of profound and unresolved upset and anger. What kills me to this day is why they did not give me my belongings when I left ...named School.... My things, who my mum was and where I was born and where she was from. I felt hurt, I had to wait 50 odd years to see an ad in ...English newspaper.... Why the Brothers did not give me that ...information... who my mum was ...crying .... I talk to her friend now and she ...(mother)... always tried to find me. She used to look at the kids going up to school and she used be always talking about what age she thought I ought to be. She always spoke about me when she seen the kids and she wondered whether I was alive or whether I was dead. Why was I not given that information? Why was I not told? I made inquiries, but I had nothing to go on.

There were 99 witness reports of bullying by co-residents from 16 Schools. The practice of bullying in this section refers mainly to the intimidating and aggressive behaviour reported by witnesses in relation to co-residents. Threats of physical violence, intimidation and bullying by religious and lay staff while also referred to is described in more detail in the context of physical, sexual and emotional abuse reports. Explicit and implicit threats of physical harm were the most frequently described demonstrations of bullying by male staff. Witnesses reported being forced to behave as they were instructed by the threat of punishment or physical abuse.

Bullying by co-residents with the perceived permission and encouragement of the School staff was reported to be a regular feature in eight Schools. The playgrounds and yards, in particular, were described as frightening places by many witnesses who were exposed to bullying by older residents. Witnesses reported a practice of staff punishing individual residents by sending them out to the yard to be ‘charged’, kicked and otherwise assaulted by their peers or set up to fight them in the boxing ring. ‘He ...(Br X)... would get 2 older lads to bully you, they would get cigarettes from him.’

Physical and sexual abuse were core components of the bullying reported by witnesses. Older residents were reported to congregate in unsupervised gangs in particular Schools where bullying was most frequently reported. The gangs fought amongst themselves and were also reported to target certain residents for bullying and sexual abuse. ‘Orphans’, new residents and others who did not have visitors or older brothers to protect them were described as particularly vulnerable to being bullied in these circumstances. Witnesses further reported that residents who were sexually abused by religious staff were at times identified as ‘Brothers’ pets’ and targeted by co-residents for bullying. I wasn’t a hard man. I came from a convent, I was an orphan. It was terrible for us, we got a terrible time, we got bullied by the kids as well. They would take your food off you, you wouldn’t dare tell on them, they would batter you. • It was a very, very cruel place, there was no sense in it or need for it, it was especially bad for the orphans, we were treated differently. ... The Brothers promoted bullying especially of the orphans. I done a lot of crying when I was in ...named School... I wouldn’t let anyone see me but I would curl up at night in bed and cry.

Witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee were of the opinion that bullying by older residents was used to maintain control in some Schools with the knowledge and support of those in charge. In other Schools witnesses described poor supervision and staffing, with consequent bullying by older residents who were assigned the task of maintaining order. Bullying, you would see other boys crying, you’d know what had happened. But to go to the Brother, the bullying would only get worse and nothing was going to get done about it. I was fearful every place, the whole environment will haunt me for evermore.

In five Schools older residents were described as monitors in positions of delegated authority. Reports were heard from three Schools of monitors patrolling the recreation yards, sometimes with sticks, and the apparent authority to beat co-residents at will, as described: Supervision by Fr ...X... and his successor was non existent. ... Monitors and bullies had a free rein with younger boys and were abusive. The ...(priests and Brothers)... knew what was happening and turned a blind eye.

Witnessing the abuse of co-residents was reported as disturbing at the time and as contributing to life-long distress. Fifty eight (58) witnesses from nine Schools reported they saw co-residents beaten and flogged; some of these witnesses were forced to hold down co-residents. Those who witnessed public beatings described the experience as distressing and traumatic and many were distressed as they gave their evidence of such beatings. They reported that seeing others being beaten and hearing their screams was often worse than being beaten themselves. This experience was particularly disturbing when they had to watch their own sibling being beaten. Witnesses reported that screaming did not lessen the beating and believed that the screams were intended to be heard as a warning to others. You’d hear the echo. ... You could hear the cries. ... It would sort of echo through the building. You’d hear the boys crying when they’d be getting a beating, and then they would come back into their bed and they would be crying. You couldn’t go near their bed to comfort them, you’d be wanting to, but you couldn’t because you would get it yourself. • You could not hear or talk of the pain ...(to other residents)... when they were beating you. If you did you might feel it too and you couldn’t carry that extra burden, each one had to carry his own pain alone.

A number of witnesses described being made to watch as co-residents were beaten or flogged to the point of severe injury or unconsciousness. We were marched up to a room ... we were put sitting around the gymnastic table, we called it ... the horse, we were put sitting around, from the youngest to the oldest boy. We watched 4 Brothers walk in with 3 boys ...named co-residents.... I know one of them, within a year of leaving he had hung himself ... they were stripped naked while the Brothers held their hands and their legs and this Br ...X... removing his soutane and his collar dramatically began to flog these guys within an inch of their life. Observing excrement coming out of the boys’ behind and blood flowing down their legs, I literally trembled and I know kids all around us trembled in silence, some were crying for the poor boys. Their screams for mercy were seared into your very brain.

A large number of witnesses reported the continuing traumatic impact for them of being gathered together to watch co-residents being beaten: A Brother beat this kid for a half hour. We were all crying. His brother was crying, he was in bits. Mr ...X (lay ancillary worker)... stood there and watched that and never lifted a finger. Them things stay on your mind ...(the memory of it).... You don’t have to think about it, it’s there, you’d be lying in bed and it would come to you. • (Named co-resident)... was a lovely lad. He used to sing and we would sit around listening, he always knew all the words. He and another boy decided to run away, we were all punished, there were no films and we all went to bed early, we cursed them. They were gone for a week and eventually brought back. We were all lined up and they were battered, then 4 Brothers took them into a room, with hurling sticks and leathers, we could hear them screaming, when they came out they were unrecognisable, purple ears, totally closed up eyes, backside totally out of shape, I’ll never forget it. You heal, but it takes months and you’re never the same again after it. I never heard him singing after that.

Thirty two (32) witnesses reported being ostracised by their peers or were otherwise isolated while resident in the Schools. This was a practice for punishing returned absconders in a number of Schools. Witnesses also reported being physically isolated in the infirmaries following a severe beating while their bruises and injuries healed. They reported being confined to bed for days or weeks without contact with their peers or co-residents. A small number of witnesses reported being locked in animal sheds and outhouses as punishment for perceived misdemeanours.

Isolation from the ‘outside world’ was frequently described by witnesses, especially those who had lived at home and been part of a community, attending school, playing and having the freedom to associate with others. Many commented on the fact that the Schools themselves were so isolated that they rarely ever saw anyone apart from their co-residents and staff members. A large number of witnesses emphasised the painful experience of loneliness as a result of both the physical isolation and the regime in the Schools, which kept residents silent for long periods, frowned on the normal rough and tumble of play and forbade or discouraged friendships and contact between siblings.

The Committee heard evidence that residents were regularly reminded of the possibility of further isolation by being sent away to a more restrictive institution as punishment. They understood that there were harsher and less physically accessible Schools where boys were sent when they got into trouble. The disappearance of co-residents who had been severely beaten contributed to the sense of fear reported by witnesses in this regard. One afternoon we were all sitting at our desks and about 6 Brothers came in, they pulled out this boy and they beat him, kicked him, punched him and they used to have big straps at him.... They carried him off somewhere.... This little boy was as hard as nails, he couldn’t cry we knew that, he had no tears, you wouldn’t go against him, he would flatten you. I never did know what happened to that boy, he just vanished poor devil. I never saw him again. You see in School you don’t say nothing, you mind your own business, you don’t even look, like that, you use your eyes, nothing else.

Eight (8) witnesses reported that they themselves were transferred to other institutions when they were returned after running away or following altercations with staff. Six (6) of these transfers occurred without prior notice and, in three instances reported to the Committee, witnesses believed they occurred without the appropriate legal arrangements being made or parents notified. One witness reported being severely beaten by a nun on a daily basis, and was threatened that if he told anyone about being abused he would be beaten more severely and separated from his peers, a threat that was ultimately carried out: ‘I used get so angry with the beatings I got from her, I broke a ... bottle and she ...(Sr X)... sent me to ...(the)... psychiatric hospital’. As punishment for running away Br ...X... used to have me kneeling on my knees on concrete until we went to bed at night. ... I had a hard time there, the physical abuse was brutal. Every chance I got I ran away I would be brought back and I would get a hiding from Br ...X.... We ...ran away.... We were brought back and I got a hiding off Br ...X.... We were brought into Court in ...named town... the next day. We were remanded and we were brought back to ...named School.... The following week then we went into Court and I was sent to ...another named School....