18 entries for Br Vallois

1.Ferryhouse was a large institution and would have received adequate funding to provide a reasonable level of care for the children for most of the relevant period. In addition, it operated a farm and had trades such as tailoring and boot-making that provided for the needs of the boys. 2.The boys were poorly fed. For much of the period, the food was of insufficient quantity and quality. 3.Poor hygiene and overcrowding were serious problems in the School, and these conditions placed the health and well-being of the boys in danger. 4.The boys were poorly clothed and looked different from children outside the Institution. 5.The accommodation was unsuitable, unhygienic and badly maintained. 6.Family contact was not encouraged or maintained. Boys became cut off from their families and friends. 7.The aftercare was minimal and often non-existent. Young teenagers unprepared for the outside world were thrown into it and had to fend for themselves. Some historical milestones The Submission by the Rosminians to the Cussen Commission, 1936

The Chief Inspector replied, asking for the particulars of the boys to be transferred and asked for the following to be done: (1)The local authorities liable under the Children Acts to be informed. (2)The five boys detained under the Health Act, 1953 to be transferred to Tralee by arrangement with the local authorities. (3)Boys committed but whose period of detention was soon to expire to be released on supervision certificates.

The Visitor made similar findings as regards trades training in his Report the following year. He recorded that, despite the existence of a carpentry shop, that trade was not taught. He believed that machines rather than people were used in the trades in which the boys were instructed and jobs could not be secured for them. Boys tended to work on farms before drifting off to England or into the Army. He supported the Superior’s suggestion that a Brother who could teach arts and crafts be drafted onto the staff in order to ‘take some of the dullness out of their lives’. He added, ‘the evening is long here and occupation for the boys is necessary’.