4,228 entries for Historical Context

Witnesses described considerable mental health difficulties that in many instances continued to affect their everyday lives. The following table provides an overview of the mental health status described by witnesses:

Mental health status	Males	Females	Total witnesses
Good	1	3	4
Reasonable	6	4	10
Poor	5	6	11
Total	12	13	25

Four (4) witnesses who described good mental health reported that their early adult lives were marked by ‘turmoil’, including unplanned pregnancies, suicide attempts, and episodes of depression. Those who said they were now living more fulfilled and independent lives stated that among the factors that had contributed to their recovery were receiving counselling, hearing apologies issued by their abusers and having their abuse acknowledged.

The witnesses whose mental health was categorised by the Committee as reasonable based on the information provided reported suffering occasionally with anxiety, depression and problems related to alcohol abuse. Witnesses also described feelings of sadness and resentment about past abuse that at times led to tearfulness. Many witnesses reported that these concerns continued to negatively effect their lives notwithstanding their attempts to suppress painful memories.

The 11 witnesses whose mental health was categorised as poor reported a history of depression, repeated suicide attempts, alcohol abuse and repeated hospital admissions. They described high levels of anxiety, sleep disturbance, ongoing suicidal thoughts and attempts. Half of those witnesses reported requiring continued medication. Other aspects of mental health difficulties described were feelings of paranoia, volatility and at times feeling ‘tortured’ with flashbacks. The witnesses reported that their experiences of childhood abuse continued to affect their lives, contributing to trauma and ill health that impacted on their family and work relationships. I was very ill, I was hospitalised...I would be very edgy...the doctor asked me a few questions. He recommended me to go to see the psychiatric unit.... I have been attending counselling since, I am on medication...

More that half the witnesses who reported abuse in residential work and other settings reported episodes of self-harm and suicidal thoughts; six had attempted to take their own lives.

Nineteen (19) witnesses described ongoing distress and difficulty coping with their personal, family and work lives. They reported that they continued to suffer with a range of problems associated with the trauma of their abuse. One female witness gave an account of a recurring nightmare where she ‘is locked there for life’; her previous experience of being forced to stay in a closed institution was described as having had an enduring effect on her adult life.

The following table illustrates the effects on their lives described by 12 male and 13 female witnesses. They are not mutually exclusive and were not prioritised by witnesses.

Male witnesses	Female witnesses
Effects on adult life*	Number of reports	Effects on Adult Life*	Number of reports
Counselling required	9	Lack of trust	9
Alcohol abuse	8	Mood instability	8
Suicidal feelings or attempt	8	Suicidal feelings or attempts	8
Lack of trust	7	Counselling required	7
Aggressive behaviour – physical	6	Nightmares	7
Angry	6	Angry	6
Loner	6	Tearfulness	6
Mood instability	6	Feelings related to being a victim	6
Post-traumatic effect	5	Lack of self-worth	6
Aggressive behaviour – psychological	4	Abuse not easily forgotten	5
Aggressive behaviour – verbal	4	Anxious and fearful	5
Feeling different from peers	4	Feeling isolated	5
Gender and sexual identity problems	4	Loner	4
Nightmares	3	Unable to show feelings to children	4
Sexual problems	3	Unable to show feelings to partner	4
Sleep disturbance	3	Feeling different from peers	3
Abuse not easily forgotten	2	Sleep disturbance	3
Anxious and fearful	2	Unable to settle	3
Fear of failure	3	Withdrawal	3
Feeling isolated	3	Aggressive behaviour – verbal	2
Feelings related to being a victim	2	Alcohol abuse	2
Feelings related to being powerless	2	Feelings related to being powerless	2
Issues of needing approval	3	Issues of self-blame	2
Over harsh with children	2	Over harsh with children	2
Unable to show feelings to partner	2	Overprotective of children	2
Withdrawal	2	Aggressive behaviour – psychological	1
Tearfulness	1	Issues of needing approval	1

The Committee heard accounts from many witnesses of difficulties settling in employment or relationships following their discharge, which in many instances continued through their later adult lives. They described frequent movement between Ireland and the UK, life-long isolation and loss of family contact. When I came out I was like a wild cat, I did not know what way to turn.... My life is destroyed. I never go outside the door... • I used to go down with the drink, I kept moving jobs.... All my life I blamed myself, I had the guilt of it....When I realised I was a victim, in counselling, in the last few years up to that I blamed myself....I blame myself for not being that friendly with any of my brothers and sisters.... • Once you have been there ... (abused)... you never get out of their sights. I never come back since the day I left this country....

This volume of the Commission’s report presents the compiled oral evidence of over 1,000 witnesses who attended the Confidential Committee to report their childhood experiences of abuse in Irish institutions between 1914 and 2000. In most instances the reported abuse occurred while witnesses were in the care of the State. They reported being physically, sexually and emotionally abused and neglected by religious and lay adults who had responsibility for their care, and by others in the absence of adequate care and supervision.

The following chapter highlights aspects of the recounted evidence of childhood abuse including; the circumstances in which it occurred, the level of awareness of that abuse in society at the time, the function of the reported abusers in the childrens’ lives and the intergenerational consequences of the abuse witnesses experienced. Proposals for change in order to better protect children in the future are summarised.

Witnesses gave many reasons for attending to give evidence to the Confidential Committee, predominantly a wish to contribute to an official account of the abuse they experienced as children in out-of-home care. Most expressed the hope that a formal record of their experiences would contribute to a greater understanding of the circumstances in which such abuse occurs and would assist in the future protection of children.

The Committee heard oral evidence of abuse in 216 different settings including; Industrial and Reformatory Schools, primary and second-level schools, Children’s Homes, hospitals, foster care, schools and residential facilities for children with special needs, hostels, residential group homes, novitiates, laundries and other settings where children were placed away from their families. There were multiple reports of abuse in relation to many of the identified settings.

Witnesses who reported abuse to the Confidential Committee were most often in out-of-home care placements from an early age. Most witnesses were admitted to such care from parental or extended family homes, generally for reasons associated with their social circumstances, including; poverty, parental illness and death, marital separation, non-marital birth, special needs, unemployment and lack of care and protection. With the exception of witnesses who reported being abused in primary and second-level schools the majority of witnesses to the Committee were deprived of contact with their parents, extended family or others to whom they could confide while in the schools, institutions or settings where the reported abuse occurred.

More than 90% of all witnesses reported being physically abused while in out-of-home care. In addition to being hit and beaten witnesses described other forms of abuse such as being flogged, kicked and otherwise physically assaulted, scalded, burned and held under water. Witnesses reported being beaten publicly in front of other staff, residents, patients and pupils as well as in private. Many reports were heard of witnesses being beaten naked and partially clothed, both in private and in front of others. They reported being beaten and physically assaulted with implements that were for the specific purpose of inflicting pain and punishment, such as leather straps, bamboo canes and wooden sticks. In addition, witnesses gave evidence that everyday implements were routinely utilised for the purpose of striking children. Witnesses described pervasive abuse as part of their daily lives.

Physical abuse was reported to have been perpetrated by religious and lay staff, older residents and others who were associated with the schools and institutions. Detailed accounts were heard of injuries received as a result of physical assaults perpetrated by staff in the institutions, including broken bones, head injuries and lacerations that required medical treatment and hospitalisation. Witnesses consistently commented on the fact that nobody spoke to them or enquired about the cause of their injuries and that efforts were made to conceal injuries.