200 entries for Historical Context

The Investigation Committee heard evidence from two complainants alleging sexual abuse. One complaint related to sexual abuse by a Brother, and the other related to sexual abuse by an older boy.

A complainant, who was resident in the School in the early 1950s, alleged that he was sexually abused on two occasions by Br Vic, one of the Brothers who had been sent into the School in 1946 to restore order and discipline. The alleged abuse took place at night, when the Brother would take the boy out of his bed and bring him to a room downstairs. He made the complainant perform oral sex. When asked by counsel whether he was in a position to resist, he stated, ‘No, you were never in a position to resist, they owned you body and soul once you were inside them walls’.

The complainant confided in a priest and, somehow, the allegation made its way back to Br Vic, who punished the boy for telling the priest. While the sexual abuse never occurred again, the boy lived in permanent fear of it recurring: ‘It wasn’t the fact that it didn’t happen again, it was the fear that it might. And when you live with that fear it is worse really than the act itself’.

The second complaint was made by a former resident who was present in Carriglea from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. He was 10 years old when he was sent to Carriglea, and the abuse, which involved masturbation, began shortly after he arrived there. He alleged that he was sexually abused on three or four occasions by an older boy aged approximately 15 years. When the perpetrator left the School, the abuse stopped. The witness stated, ‘I just kept it quiet. When you are institutionalised you don’t tell anybody, you keep it quiet’. It was significant that the alleged abuse occurred during a time when Visitation Reports indicated that immoral practices had been stamped out in the School.

1.The documentary evidence revealed that Carriglea had a serious problem with sexual activity among the boys for most of the 1940s, some of which was predatory and abusive, involving older boys with younger boys. 2.The Christian Brothers failed in their duty to protect the children in their care in Carriglea. 3.Although a strict regime of supervision was introduced in 1946, it was unlikely that the habits and practices of the previous decade would >be >easily eradicated. 4.A Brother was transferred to Carriglea from Artane in 1944 about whom concern had been expressed because of his ‘particular friendship’ with a boy in Artane. Such a transfer was ill-judged and dangerous.

Carriglea, with up to 260 pupils, was a large industrial school but was allowed to deteriorate to an alarming extent until strong management was put in place in 1945, nine years before its eventual closure. From 1936 until 1945, successive Resident Managers were put in place who were unable to run the Institution properly. This failure of management led to an anarchic and lawless situation, where the boys were effectively out of control. Such an institution offered no protection to younger or weaker boys, and even the Visitation Reports acknowledged that sexual abuse amongst the boys was rife.

The large number of very young children who had been detained in the School had been effectively left in the charge of one or two Brothers. The emotional deprivations of such a situation need hardly be elaborated upon. Boys as young as six years of age were put into a situation of lawlessness and anarchy caused by management incompetence.

Two main sources of information provide a contemporary account of the general conditions prevailing in Carriglea during the relevant period.

The first source of contemporary records was the General and Medical Inspection Reports of the Department of Education, dating from 1939 until the closure of the School. There were, however, a number of gaps for some years in these records.

The second source of contemporary records was the Visitation Reports of the Christian Brothers. The Visitation Reports furnished to the Investigation Committee dated from 1936 until the closure of the School in 1954. The House annals, which were usually another source of information concerning the everyday activities of the Christian Brothers’ schools, were not properly kept in Carriglea. The information provided was sparse and incomplete. Food, clothing and accommodation

As a large institution with a good working farm, the Mazars report22 would indicate that Carriglea was adequately funded by the State until its closure in 1954.

The Department of Education Inspections, both General and Medical, were carried out by Dr Anna McCabe, and she was consistently guarded in her assessment of the School. Food, clothing and accommodation were generally categorised as ‘fair’ or ‘satisfactory’ throughout the 1940s. She was particularly critical of the condition of the boys’ patched clothing and the habit of allowing the boys to go barefoot in the summer. This practice was recalled by a complainant to the Committee, who said that this caused cut and injured feet.

Dr McCabe’s first report was in 1939 when she criticised the general condition of parts of the School which she found ‘were none too clean’. ‘The food appeared to me to be rather below standard’. Her comments were forwarded to the Resident Manager, Br Rene, by the Department of Education and evoked a nine-page letter of protest from him. His letter painted a picture of relentless overwork and exhaustion, but failed to acknowledge the impact of such a system on the boys in his care. He sat down to write the letter late at night: ... At this hour all sensible people – including our fair medical inspector – have put several hours restful leisure over them. Not so this unfortunate however, as it is only now that I find time to sit down to write my “observations” on this extract from her report. I roused the boys this morning at 6.30 . I bade them farewell when lights were lowered half an hour ago and all the day between ... has been cram-full of tiring, wearying, slavish work ... And now as a reward for the unfortunate folly of accepting this dreadful responsibility I have to set out to convince you that black is white – that our school is not all as bad as painted.

Br Rene then proceeded to defend the way he was running the School. He said that he prioritised literary studies over everything else and that domestic ‘charges’ suffered as a result. He defended this by saying that a shiny dormitory floor achieved at the cost of the boys’ schooling or leisure time would not be appreciated by them. He pointed to the success the School had achieved in open examinations that year for the Post Office, and to one pupil who was applying for a University scholarship: then proceeded to defend the way he was running the School. He said that he prioritised literary studies over everything else and that domestic ‘charges’ suffered as a result. He defended this by saying that a shiny dormitory floor achieved at the cost of the boys’ schooling or leisure time would not be appreciated by them. He pointed to the success the School had achieved in open examinations that year for the Post Office, and to one pupil who was applying for a University scholarship: It has meant grave financial embarrassment for me, but I am still – like a few Managers in other schools – living in hopes of the Minister’s many promises to us being fulfilled. So far his only contribution that I am aware of is the worry and trouble in hand at the moment.

He appended menus of food served in the School, adding, ‘I wish to know if it meets with your approval’.