884 entries for Government Department

The Industrial School in Goldenbridge was a large institution but very few Sisters worked in it. Prior to 1942, the Reverend Mother of the convent was always the Resident Manager of Goldenbridge. Although there were four different Resident Managers notified to the Department of Education between 1936 and 1942, these Sisters had very little contact with the daily administration in the School or with the children who were committed to it. The testimony of Sr Alida,3 who came to Goldenbridge as a young nun in the early 1940s, was that administration in the school and management were delegated to one nun, Sr Pietrina,4 who was elderly and diabetic when Sr Alida was appointed.

Before Sr Bianca was appointed to Goldenbridge, Sr Vincenza7 of Carysfort had appointed Sr Divina8 as Resident Manager in the early 1940s, which prompted the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education to protest. He wrote: I am desired by the Minister for Education to call your attention to the fact that the new Resident Manager whom you have appointed in St. Vincent’s Industrial School, Goldenbridge, is 79 years of age. The Minister feels that the management of an Industrial School would constitute a very heavy burden and responsibility on a lady of this advanced age. The supervision of the feeding, clothing, education and health of about 150 children, together with the keeping of the many accounts, records etc., which are required and, in addition, the fulfilment of her duties as Reverend Mother of the community would, in the Minister’s opinion, constitute a heavy burden on a much younger and more active person. The Minister would accordingly be glad if you would reconsider this appointment with a view to appointing a much younger Sister who has had experience of children and on whom the complex duties of management would not be so burdensome.

The Department of Education wanted to ensure that the actual day-to-day running of the Institution would be in the hands of a young, energetic, qualified Sister. Sr Bianca was appointed as Sister-in-Charge of the Industrial School in the early 1940s, and was appointed Resident Manager the following year. At the same time Sr Alida, who was a young newly professed Sister, in her mid-20s, was appointed as her assistant. Sr Bianca continued as Resident Manager until the mid-1950s.

The Department of Education Medical Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, inspected the premises and from time to time made suggestions regarding the care of the children. Her first two inspections were significant, because they coincided with the appalling conditions described by Sr Alida. The first was in 1939 and the second was in 1941. Nothing in these reports would indicate the level of neglect encountered by Sr Alida.

The Department of Education reports revealed that the numbers of children detained in industrial schools increased until 1930, after which there began a steady decline. This decline was not experienced in Goldenbridge: in contrast, the numbers there continued to increase and, in 1962, the Resident Manager reported to the Department of Education that the School housed 193 pupils. According to Department of Education reports, there were 46 children in the Institution on its closure in 1983.

In 1938, the accommodation and certified limits stood at 130 children. In February 1938, the Resident Manager applied to increase the accommodation limit to 150. An increase to 140 children was granted by the Department of Education on foot of this application.

In addition, the Department of Education issued circulars and guidelines to Industrial School Managers, indicating that corporal punishment must always be kept within the bounds set down by the Regulations and must never be used excessively. Circular 11/1946 stated: Corporal punishment should be resorted to only where other forms of punishment have been found unsuccessful as a means of correction. It should be administered only for grave transgressions, and in no circumstances for mere failure at school lessons or industrial training.

The Investigation Committee has seen no evidence of any punishment book in Goldenbridge. There is no reference to it in any of the documentation furnished to the Investigation Committee, nor is any reference made to it by the Department of Education inspector who visited Goldenbridge on regular occasions.

The Department wrote to the Superior on 3rd February 1944 and requested her to get a report from her School Medical Officer as to why the children had not gained weight. This report was furnished to the Department by the Superior on 22nd February 1944. The School Medical Officer who wrote the report stated that he had agreed the children’s diet in conjunction with Dr McCabe’s predecessor, but had recommended that the diet be supplemented by cod liver oil. This was done for a short period, but discontinued during the ‘emergency’, and he suggested that the Department should now supply cod liver oil to the School. He also stated that all but one child in the School were ‘abnormal’, and this was why the children were small in stature. In her covering letter, the Superior stated that the Resident Manager found it impossible to supply the whole School with cod liver oil.

Dr McCabe disagreed with the opinion of the School Medical Officer, and suggested that properly fed children did not need to supplement their diet with cod liver oil. The Minister for Education was informed of the response of the Superior, and a decision was taken on 14th March 1944 to send a strong letter to the School. The terms of the letter sent two weeks later were that the Department did not accept any of the reasons given by the Superior or the Medical Officer, and directed the Superior to inform the Department of what action she intended to take as soon as possible.

The Department then wrote to the Superior on 15th November 1944 and asked for the appropriate form to be completed with regard to the new Resident Manager. This elicited the following response from the Superior: Immediately on receiving a negative reply (22/10/44) to my request, that the then Resident Manager of St Michael’s School, be allowed to hold the position provisionally, I appointed Sr. [Adriana]2 to fill the post. I thought it well to defer notifying this waiting the Inspector’s visit. The strong censure contained in your Communication came as no small surprise, as apart from the failure of the children to put on weight we had no reason to think that Dr. McCabe was not satisfied with the general status of the School.

The Department’s reservations regarding the suitability of the new Resident Manager were not acted upon. Dr McCabe visited the School on 27th February 1945 and, in a detailed handwritten report dated 12th March 1945, she advised the Department that the food had improved and the children had gained weight. She was still not happy, however, as she found that children had dirty necks and ears and, when this was drawn to the Manager’s attention, she said it was as a result of the boys playing about in the turf. Dr McCabe did not feel that this was from where the dirt had emanated.

On receipt of this letter, the Sisters of Mercy informed the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore that the Department of Education had requested them to provide improvements, and sought his advice as to what they should do. He wrote to the Department and posed the question: Is it likely there will continue in the near future to be a demand for such schools in view of the increasing State grants being made available for widows, orphans, etc.? As the Head of the Diocese, I honestly feel unable to reply to the request of the Cappoquin Convent for advice and I would be grateful to you for a helpful direction in this matter. The numbers in the school may decline and the overhanging debt would remain on the Community which would have, so far as I can see, no means of paying it off.

Despite the recommendation to pay the grant, the Department was reluctant to apply to the Department of Finance for the funds, and had another inspection carried out by the Schools Inspector one year later. He also recommended that the grant be paid. He recognised that the parents in the local schools would not accept the industrial school children, and that there was no alternative but to educate them within the Industrial School. However, it was deemed inappropriate to remove the boys under six years of age from the external National School, because of the financial consequences for that school, and therefore, the Industrial School was only given two-thirds of the cost of the building, as that represented the actual needs of the School.

The Sisters had built a school large enough to accommodate 64 children, but the Department suggested that, as the proper size of the School would have been one to accommodate 48, the Department of Finance could base the grant on a pro-rata basis. In the early 1950s, the Department of Finance finally sanctioned a grant, which was two-thirds of the estimated cost of building the School for 48 pupils.