4,228 entries for Historical Context

As indicated, there was a significant difference between the numbers of male and female witnesses living in Ireland and in the UK. Sixty eight percent (68%) of male witnesses were living in Ireland at the time of their hearing compared with 48% of female witnesses. Most of the witnesses living in the UK reported being there since they were discharged from the Schools or shortly thereafter. Many commented on the considerable help and assistance they received, both at a personal and professional level, from health and welfare services in the UK.

At the time of their hearings 656 of the 791 witnesses (83%) were over 49 years of age, with 57 of those witnesses aged over 70 years. See Table 10 for more complete details:

Age range	Males	%	Females	%	Total witnesses	%
30 – 39 years	12	3	6	2	18	2
40 – 49 years	54	13	63	17	117	15
50 – 59 years	186	45	193	51	379	48
60 – 69 years	119	29	101	27	220	28
70 + years	42	10	15	4	57	7
Total	413	100	378	(100)*	791	100

As the table demonstrates, 76% of the total number of witnesses who gave evidence in relation to Schools were aged between 50 and 70 years at the time of the hearing. There were some differences between the ages of the male and female witnesses, with 74% of male witnesses aged between 50 and 70 compared with 78% of female witnesses. In addition, 6% more male witnesses were aged over 70 years.

Chapter 4 provides information on the reported circumstances that led to these witnesses being placed in out-of-home care as children.

This chapter describes the circumstances of admission to care of the 413 male and 378 female witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee about their experiences of abuse in Schools. Thirty eight (38) Schools were situated in rural and provincial Ireland and 17 were in cities.

There were 18 junior and senior boys Schools named in evidence to the Committee. The junior Schools admitted boys up to the age of 10 years and were all managed by religious Sisters. Boys were generally transferred to senior boys Schools when they were 10 years old. However evidence was heard of boys being transferred to senior Schools as young as eight years of age and of boys younger than 10 years being placed directly in senior Schools. These Schools were managed by Brothers and/or priests and, with some variations, admitted boys between the ages of 10 and 16 years.

There were 37 girls Schools reported in evidence to the Committee. A number of these Schools were certified to admit girls and boys up to the age of 10 years. In the period after the mid-1970s a number of girls’ Industrial Schools began to admit boys and girls, both individually and in family groups. As reported, girls generally remained in the same School for the duration of their admission. Eleven (11) Schools were the subject of reports of abuse by both male and female witnesses.

The Reformatory Schools were all gender segregated and were certified to admit young people from the age of 12 years who were convicted of an offence.

Seven hundred and nine (709) of the 791 witnesses (90%) were first admitted to residential institutions between 1914 and 1965. The remaining 82 witnesses were first admitted to an institution in 1965 or later. The earliest date of admission relating to Schools for male witnesses covered in this section of the Report was 1919. All 413 male witnesses had been discharged from the School system by 1989. The earliest date of admission for the 378 female witnesses was 1914, all of whom had been discharged from the School system by 1988. The educational, social and welfare changes introduced nationally in the 1960s and 1970s were reflected in the evidence heard by the Committee, as noted throughout the Report.

For the purpose of analysis and reporting the Committee combined witness evidence into four periods by the decade of the witness’s discharge. The four periods were: pre-1960s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The breakdown for each decade is shown below.

Decade of discharge	Males	%	Females	%	Total witnesses	%
Pre-1960s	177	43	133	35	310	39
1960 – 1969	170	41	169	45	339	43
1970 – 1979	50	12	68	18	118	15
1980 – 1989	16	4	8	2	24	3
Total	413	100	378	100	791	100

It is important to note witnesses discharged in one decade may have been in residential care and also reported abuse in relation to the previous decade.1

Witnesses who gave evidence were admitted both directly from their parents’ home to the Schools and also from various other residential settings, including: • Mother and Baby Homes. These were often either the place of birth or first residence for non-marital children. A number of witnesses reported that they remained in these homes with their mothers, for up to 3 years. • County Homes. These were also both places of birth and first residences. Some witnesses reported being with their mothers in county homes until they were up to five years old. • Foster Care. Provided for infants and young children in some circumstances prior to placement in an Industrial School. Before 1983 such arrangements were also known as ‘boarding out’ or ‘at nurse’. • Children’s Homes. These facilities admitted infants and young children. A number of witnesses reported being placed in Children’s Homes until they were transferred to an Industrial School.

Witnesses who were admitted to Schools from the above facilities were most often non-marital children, frequently referred to as ‘orphans’. The term orphan was used by witnesses in relation to their own circumstances and in reference to co-residents who had no contact with any family outside the institution. Witnesses generally believed that these residents had been in institutions all their lives and either had no known family or their parents had died. Many later learned that they had lived with their mothers for the first few years of their lives and/or had been initially reared by relatives prior to placement in out-of-home care. A number of those witnesses who identified themselves as orphans reported that frequently their mothers had, for various reasons, been unable to support them. The majority of these witnesses had known little or nothing about the circumstances of their admission to out-of-home care. This lack of information included not knowing where they had been born, who their mothers and their fathers were, whether they had siblings, why their parents were unable to care for them and who decided they would be admitted to the Industrial School system. In many instances information available to witnesses through Freedom of Information legislation and other sources in later years indicated that they were not in fact orphans. Witnesses described learning that their parents, particularly mothers, had made representations to the authorities to have them placed close to where they lived. Others reported that their parents had sought to have them released before the full term of their detention and also requested information about their children from whom they had been separated. Witnesses reported that most often these requests had not received a favourable response at the time. However, for a number of witnesses access to such information facilitated contact with family previously unknown to them.

Admissions to Industrial Schools were frequently by Court Order, applications for which could be made by Inspectors from the NSPCC/ISPCC and the Gardaí. Information provided to the Committee indicated that Inspectors from the Society applied for Court Orders on behalf of 120 male witnesses (29%) and 208 female witnesses (60%) who were admitted to Industrial Schools. Placements in voluntary Children’s Homes and foster care were reported to have been generally negotiated by individual arrangement between a child’s parent, guardian, public assistance boards, local authorities and Health Boards, and the operators of the respective services. Some of these placements were by Order of the Court following on application by the Health Board.

‘Boarding out’ and foster care arrangements were other options for the care of a child in circumstances where the parents were unable to provide the necessary care. Records provided to the Committee by witnesses suggest that access to these placements depended on various factors, including either the ability of the mother or her family to pay, the official involvement of State agencies and the availability of appropriate residential services.