884 entries for Government Department

The inquiry into St Joseph’s Industrial School, Glin consisted of an analysis of the documentary material from various sources, namely the Christian Brothers, the Department of Education and Science, and the Bishop of Limerick.

The Christian Brothers petitioned the Department of Education that St Joseph’s Industrial School be transferred to this site from the now-overcrowded building in Sexton Street. The Minister for Education recommended the transfer to Glin, subject to a satisfactory report by the Inspector of Schools on the suitability of the buildings, and provided certain alterations and improvements were made to the existing buildings. Renovation and improvement works costing £15,000 were carried out. It involved the installation of a new hot water heating system, dining hall, infirmary, chapel, new floors in the dormitories, new windows and doors, new steam presses and new cookers.

In June 1928, the staff and boys of St Joseph’s Industrial School moved to their new premises at Glin, some 50 kilometres from Limerick City. Despite the alterations, it was never a suitable building for a boys’ residential school. A letter from the Brother Provincial on 14th November 1961 suggested it did not become the property of the Christian Brothers. He wrote, ‘Glin was the only workhouse that was handed over to us and hence the only Industrial School for which we are paying rent to the Department of Health’. Correspondence with the Christian Brothers confirmed that Glin never became the property of the Christian Brothers, but was leased at a yearly rent of £40 from Limerick Health Authority. In 1970, the premises were returned to the Authority.

As set out in the General Chapter on the Christian Brothers, there were two sets of regulations governing the use of corporal punishment: the Department of Education regulations and the Rules and Acts of General Chapter.

The Councillor was sent a brief note from the Secretary of the Department of Education dated 29th September 1945. The note said: I am directed by the Minister for Education to say that he has had full enquiries made into the circumstances of the case and has taken appropriate action in connection therewith.

He apparently handed all the documents, except the confidential letter sent on 5th January, to the manager of the Theatre Royal for forwarding to Fr Flanagan. They were found in Fr Flanagan’s archives, and are the sole remaining record of the case. No record of this case was found in the files of the Department of Education.

Fr Flanagan made no mention of the Blake case while he was in Ireland, although his attacks against the punishment regime in Irish penal institutions which received widespread publicity. In a public lecture in Cork’s Savoy Cinema he told his audience, ‘You are the people who permit your children and the children of your communities to go into these institutions of punishment. You can do something about it’. He called Ireland’s penal institutions ‘a disgrace to the nation’ and then issued a public statement saying ‘I do not believe that a child can be reformed by lock and key and bars, or that fear can ever develop a child’s character’.8 His resolute and vociferous stand against the corporal punishment of children led him to speak out against the Glin case when he received a letter from one of his contacts in Ireland, Walter Mahon Smith.9 It stated, ‘As regards the Glin case none of the Daily papers would investigate or publish this for me’.

Mr Boland replied: My attention has been drawn to the criticisms referred to. During his recent stay in this country Monsignor Flanagan did not see and did not ask to see any of the prisons or the Borstal institutions. I am surprised that in these circumstances an ecclesiastic of his standing should have thought it proper to describe in such offensive and intemperate language conditions about which he has no firsthand knowledge.

The Minister replied: I have a cutting from a paper which contains a statement to that effect. I was not disposed to take any notice of what Monsignor Flanagan said while he was in this country, because his statements were so exaggerated that I did not think people would attach any importance to them. When, however, on his return to America he continues to make use of statements of this kind, I feel it is time that somebody should reply ...

The letter of complaint to Dr McCabe has not been discovered. Nor is there a report on her visit to the School, even though her interviews with the boys apparently uncovered allegations of serious physical abuse.

The Visitation Report cited above made several criticisms of a serious nature. It alleged, first, that Br Serge had punished ‘some of the boys’ excessively. Second, it alleged that Br Serge could give an excessive number of slaps, and he could do so even if the offence did not merit a severe punishment. Thirdly, it alleged his method of punishment ‘varied once at least from the recognised use of the strap’. The recognised use was usually a slap on the hand with a leather and, clearly, Br Serge had departed from these guidelines.

This reply was significant. The Provincial regretted that the School had not a better reputation ‘for kindness and consideration’ for the boys in its care. He did not only criticise Br Serge, but all the Brothers for not having ‘the correct feeling’ for the children. It expressed unease about how boys in general were treated in Glin.

A contemporary of Br Serge, Br Amaury,14 gave more details: The procedure for dealing with complaints would be that if any staff member or child in the school had a complaint he could bring that problem to the Superior/Manager, the sub superior, the school principal, the disciplinarian, or to the provincial or any one of his council. One such complaint was made during my year in Glin. It was made against one of the Brothers on the school staff. I do not know to what outside group or individual the complaint was made but the nature of it was that the man in question was over severe in having recourse to corporal punishment. None of the details of this complaint were made available to the community or staff in Glin. The boy who was named as the one who made the complaint was personally known to me and my impression of him was that he was a boy who would be very unlikely to do anything serious enough to merit severe corporal punishment. He was known to have been a close friend – a “masters pet” – one of the men who regularly did supervision in the school yard during recreation time. This does add more than a little likelihood to an opinion circulating at the time; that it was the “master” and not really the “pet” who caused the complaint to be made.

Nevertheless, Br Jesper took his final vows shortly after this reprimand.

Mr Dubois was employed as a night watchman in Glin in the early 1950s. He held the position for six months and stated that he left for health reasons. He wrote to the Department of Education shortly after leaving Glin, setting out a number of serious concerns he had for the boys resident there: Dear Sir, May I respectfully direct your kind attention “in Confidence” to the following and I am confident that by doing so that I shall be doing a great work of charity. For the past six months, I was employed as “night-watch man” at St Joseph’s Industrial School Glin Co Limerick, and having had close contact with the “Boys” and with the running of the school in general, I am in the position to be able to make the enclosed observations and respectfully request that the Inspectors of this department see after the matter and do their best to remedy the state of affairs existing there. The Boys are discontented with the existing state of things due to the following defects. Poor food and clothing. The cook in Boys Kitchen has no knowledge of cooking being an ex pupil working for 15/- per week and has never got any training for this work. Everyone employed at this school are free to have a smack at the Boys including the Brothers who appear to be indifferent to all this. The Boys beds and sleeping quarters are very poor and during the cold winter months are never heated, neither do the Boys get any kind of winter clothing to keep them warm. The Boys shirts are very poor quality and very badly washed the whole place and system is very-very bad. The Infirmary is just the same. The nurse goes off duty pretty often and the children are left to the mercy of one of the boys. I know the Brothers can scrape out of any difficulty but I write from personal experience. and if you could arrange surprise visits. night and day. you could see for yourself. I could never have believed that such could exist in a Catholic Country. I know there is a good deal of window dressing to deceive the eye of the visiting official but I learn that the Boys are warned not to complain May God help the poor children. There are only two trades men in this school, a shoe maker and a tailor, no carpenter employed. How can we expect such Boys to become an asset to the state. They shall treat the state as the state treats them. Pay a surprise visit to this school some cold night and see for yourself. The former night watch man a common farm labourer. carried a heavy leather when on duty and beat up the poor children as he pleased. please Sir remedy this. and you will have the blessing of God and the prayers of the poor children God bless you. Yours respectfully