227 entries for Church Inspections

The depiction of Carriglea in the early 1940s was of a very run-down and dilapidated place. The main issues centred on the deterioration of the l buildings of the Institution itself, the lack of cleanliness and hygiene, both of the School and the boys, and the poor-quality clothing of the children. From the various reports, there was a divergence of views on the issue of clothing. Throughout the 1940s, the Department of Education Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, commented on the fact that the boys were in patched clothing, whereas the Visitation Reports only referred to this on one occasion. Despite its being wartime, the care of the boys was praised by the Visitors throughout the 1940s, although Dr McCabe only rated the food, clothing and accommodation as ‘fair’ or ‘satisfactory’. The only direct criticism with regard to food was in 1946, when Dr McCabe felt that the children were not receiving adequate supplies of milk and butter.

In 1948 and 1949, the Visitation Reports considered the School to be generally well cared for, requiring just a few minor repairs. The farm was said to be working well and had enough cows to supply milk. It also had sufficient poultry to supply eggs for the Brothers but there was no mention of supplying eggs to the boys.

In the 1953 Visitation Report, the views of the Brothers were recorded and noted that none of them spoke highly of the boys. The boys were recorded as being ‘tough’ and ‘secretive and to require a firm hand’. However, discipline was generally perceived as good. The Visitor found all departments of the School clean and well maintained.

During the 1930s, manual instruction and drawing classes were taught by one Brother. These were taught to the senior boys, and the classes were marked as excellent in the 1936 Visitation Report. In 1941, drawing and manual instruction were removed as subjects for the senior boys, as they were eating into the literary subjects curriculum, as laid down by the Department.

The earliest record of boys sitting these examinations is to be found in the Visitation Report of 1936. It referred to a Brother of 74 years of age who ‘conducts a small class for the more advanced boys and prepares them for the Boy Messengers, Sorters and other elementary examinations at which they have been very successful’. Reference was made in the 1937 Visitation Report to seven of the ‘more advanced boys’ being taught by this Brother in preparation for the Post Office and other civil service examinations. The 1938 Visitation Report mentioned that this particular Brother spent four or five hours a day preparing a small group of boys for these examinations. The report went on to say that, ‘Within a period of five years some 15 boys have got into the Post Office, first as messengers and have later become postmen’.

The Visitation Report for 1943 recorded that most of the boys in 7th class took the Post Office examinations. The 1944 Visitation Report noted that ‘five boys secured appointments as telegraph messengers during the previous year’.

No reference was made in the Visitation Reports to boys sitting these examinations after 1944 but, from the Opening Statement of the Christian Brothers, it appears that boys were employed in the Post Office and C.I.E. clerkships until 1950.

In 1936, the Visitation Report noted that: Two boys of the Institution have this year undertaken Secondary work at the Dun Laoghaire Schools and were found sufficiently advanced to join the Third Year of the Intermediate Certificate Course.

In 1937, the number of boys from Carriglea attending the secondary school had increased to five. Three of them were in first year and two in second year and were preparing to sit the Intermediate Certificate examination. The Visitation Report for 1937 commented that these two boys were sitting the examination ‘after 2 years preparation, and are considered the 2 best in the class’.

The Visitation Report for 1938 also recorded that five boys were attending the secondary school, with three of them in first year and two of them in the class preparing for the Intermediate Certificate examination.

By 1939, the practice of sending boys to the secondary school was discontinued. According to the Christian Brothers in their Opening Statement, it was terminated on the basis that the host school found the practice unsatisfactory. No further explanation was provided as to the basis for this dissatisfaction, which was inconsistent with the fact that, in 1937, the two Carriglea boys who were sitting the Intermediate Certificate examination were considered the best in the class. The Visitation Report for 1939 shed no further light and merely recorded the discontinuation of this practice, ‘The practice of sending a few of the more talented boys to the secondary school in Dun Laoghaire has been discontinued’.

The 1946 Visitation Report stated: As the Institution should be vocational it is desirable that the Trades should be restored ... Laundry and knitting are the immediate requirements. Carpentry and painting could be introduced later.

The Visitation Reports made it clear that trades were offered for the benefit of the Institution and not the boys. Apart from farming, only two trades were on offer in Carriglea and a handful of boys were engaged in them. The boys in Carriglea were not equipped with suitable skills for working after they left the School.

The Visitation Reports for the first 10 years of the period under review catalogue a serious failure on the part of the School to provide occupation and recreation for the boys. Visitors noted that large numbers of boys had nothing to occupy them for long periods during the day, and went on to say that no organised games or activities were provided, which led ultimately to the complete degeneration of the behaviour of the boys who, out of boredom, resorted to immoral practices.

After the new regime was introduced in 1945, an attempt was made to remedy this problem. Although a number of bands were established, which did occupy up to half of the boys in the Institution, organised games do not appear to have ever been a feature. It is clear from successive Visitation Reports that there was a lack of willingness on the part of many of the Brothers living in Carriglea to take on any supervisory duties. In such circumstances, recreation could only operate at the level of ‘crowd control’.