Chapter 9 — Record of abuse (female witnesses)

Neglect

Forty eight (48) witnesses from 12 Schools reported infestations or infections with some or all of the following: head lice/nits, scabies, thrush, ringworm, impetigo and fleas. Witnesses who had head lice commented that the treatment was at times to cut the infected residents’ hair. Witnesses from two Schools reported that they manually picked the lice from each other’s hair. Other treatments included the application of undiluted Jeyes Fluid, paraffin, treatment lotion and fine combing. ‘When we got there ...(when first admitted)... we were put into the care of 2 helpers who put us into a Jeyes Fluid bath, who cut our hair, steel fine combed our hair.’ Staff in three Schools were reported to deal with scabies infections by painting residents with a white or purple solution; witnesses reported that they stood in line naked for this treatment and that the same brush was used on many residents. Witnesses reported that spraying residents’ heads and beds with DDT was the treatment for fleas and head lice in six Schools in the pre-1960s period. There was about 26 beds in each room. The beds were full of fleas, they used to put DDT on the bed. Sometimes it was entertaining, we’d watch it jump and say “look at this one, look at this one”.

There were 272 witness reports of insufficient and poor quality clothing in relation to 37 Schools. The reports referred to witnesses discharged in all decades up to and including the 1980s. Witnesses consistently reported that their clothes and footwear were old-fashioned, ill-fitting, uncomfortable and unsuitable for cold and wet weather.

Witnesses generally reported that their own clothes were removed when they were admitted and replaced with clothes that were, at times, of inferior quality. This was a reported practice in the Schools regardless of the condition of the witness’ own clothes. The loss of personal items of clothing was described as traumatic for some witnesses who had been specially dressed for the occasion in new clothes, or their First Holy Communion and Confirmation clothes. The clothes provided were described as uniform and were reported to have often been made in the institution, especially in the period prior to the 1960s. There were a small number of reports from Schools where flour sacks were used to make clothes and underclothes.

Seventy seven (77) witnesses reported having to wear pre-worn, ill-fitting footwear to which many attributed long-standing problems with their feet. A small number of witnesses reported being bare-footed at times when no shoes or socks were available. These reports were from witnesses discharged prior to 1960 when witnesses rarely reported having new shoes. There were 36 reports of bags of second-hand clothes being periodically thrown out on the floor and residents being left to scramble for what they could find.

Before 1970, several institutions were reported to have had ‘Sunday clothes’ including coats and shoes. These clothes were worn when visitors and inspectors came and whenever the residents went out, for example for Sunday walks, to perform in competitions, to attend hospital or to see a doctor. Witnesses also reported that their clothing was generally not adequate for inclement weather and many described being forced outdoors in winter for recreation periods without appropriate clothing, such as coats, rainwear, hats, gloves or scarves, being provided.

Witnesses described underwear garments as loose and shapeless with limited availability of bras for residents in many Schools prior to the 1970s. It was frequently reported that during the early years witnesses were supplied with bodices that were worn tightly bound to flatten their breasts. I went with a bra on me, and there was an older girl there and she said Mth ...X... said “take off that bra” and she gave me this thing ...(bodice)... and it had strings on it. It was to flatten me.... I used to be in agony, but they made me wear it.

For witnesses discharged in the 1970s and 1980s clothing continued to constitute reports of neglect and many described being embarrassed by old-fashioned and second-hand clothes that identified them as ‘industrials’ or orphans in the outside world. Nineteen (19) witnesses discharged in the 1970s reported that they did not have clothes of their own and that everything they wore was communal property. One nun, she was teaching us, I remember her saying we were being stigmatised going to school outside and they would have to do something about it ...(get new clothes).... She used to say it was not nice, she was in the convent and she couldn’t go against them ... (Sisters in charge of residents)....

Nineteen (19) witness accounts were heard of the best clothes being given to residents who were regarded as ‘pets’ of staff members while others fought for something that would fit them.

There were 241 witness reports of poor heating in relation to 35 Schools across all decades. Witnesses described enduring memories of being cold, a particular feature of which was the pain of chilblains on the hands and feet. Chilblains were a common ailment in the pre-1970s period and witnesses reported that the pain experienced after being beaten on chilblained hands and legs was extreme.

The heating arrangements described in Schools during the years before the 1960s were mainly of open turf and coal fires in classrooms and some recreation areas. Witnesses reported that the furnaces used for heating water for the laundries supplied heat to the refectories, classrooms and dormitories in later years and a number of witnesses reported that heating was limited to times when the furnaces were lit for the laundries. Dormitories were generally described as large cold rooms with bare wooden floors and windows. Witnesses also reported that inadequate clothing and bed-coverings contributed to being cold. Reports regarding heating from witnesses discharged in the 1970s and 1980s were mainly concerned with being poorly clothed for cold weather and having to spend long periods outdoors in cold and wet weather.

One hundred and ninety five (195) witnesses reported poor or inadequate supervision by staff leaving them unprotected from harm and exposed to abuse. Orphans and those with little family contact while resident in the Schools were reported to have been particularly affected by the lack of supervision. Witnesses stated that ‘orphans’ did not have the protection afforded by visits from parents or relatives or older sisters to defend them from abusive staff and co-residents. The three most frequently reported consequences of poor or inadequate supervision were: Bullying and physical abuse Sexual abuse by staff and co-residents Compromised care of babies and toddlers.

Twenty nine (29) witnesses reported that supervision at play times was inadequate and that bullying by co-residents was a frequent occurrence. Components of the bullying behaviour reported by witnesses included being sexually and physically abused, in addition to being exposed to less direct forms of abuse such as being reported to staff for punishment, forced to do unpleasant tasks and being deprived of food. Supervision in the refectories and dormitories was generally described as minimal, with, in some Schools, as many as 100 residents routinely reported to be supervised by one staff member. Witnesses stated that the lack of supervision in the refectories allowed older residents to have first pick of the food or simply take it from younger residents, who were generally left to fend for themselves. There was fighting among the girls, there was no supervision at all. On Saturday there would be no staff and the beatings by the older girls ... they were terrible, terrible.

The Committee heard 71 witness accounts of negligent care where residents were left in charge of younger co-residents without support or supervision. Witnesses from a small number of Schools reported that residents from the age of eight years were left in charge of babies and toddlers. Some witnesses reported that minding babies was their exclusive occupation and that they were taken out of class for this purpose; others reported being rostered to mind the babies, including getting up at night to feed them. Some were so tired the next day they fell asleep in the classroom. Witnesses reported that staff checked to see that residents had fed, dressed and changed the infants, otherwise there was no ongoing supervision of the ‘charges’ care. I used to have to look after the babies. I used to have to wash them, feed them and clean them, get them ready for bed. They were like little babies.... You learned, the older girls would show you. I was about 11 or 12 ... there were about 6 or 7 babies. • I remember my brother and his girlfriend coming to visit me, he heard he had a sister. I remember it because he brought a cake. They wanted to take me out for an ice cream and they said “no”. I was minding the babies. ... I was only a child myself. I used to have to sleep in the nursery with these babies and there was a row of all these babies and you would have to get up in the night, if they cried, or to go to the toilet, or that. You did it a week at a time, there was only one consolation the next week you were allowed to have a lie on....

Twelve (12) witnesses reported being so hungry that they either ate the babies rusks and dried food or took their milk, substituting it with water in the babies’ bottles. Several witnesses expressed regret about their own harsh treatment of babies and commented on feeling conflicted about resenting the infants they were obliged to look after when their own care was neglected. Others felt sorry for the infants and developed close affectionate bonds with those they had cared for over an extended period of time.

Witnesses reported that there was poor supervision in the absence of staff in many of the Schools over different periods of time. Residents from three Schools were locked in dormitories overnight in the absence of a staff member. Witnesses also reported that there were few domestic staff employed and as a result the residents were required to do the housework, including working in the convent and other areas. This work was reported as generally checked by older residents or lay staff.