227 entries for Church Inspections

This theme was repeated in the Visitation Report of the following year. The Visitor noted that only the Superior and Sub-Superior were capable of supervising the older boys in the dormitories. This meant that a disproportionate burden of duties fell to them, and the Superior, in view of his age, was not fit for his many responsibilities. The Visitor noted: The boys make a very good impression and I was told that the standard of goodness among them is high. At the same time there are always some with weak characters and these will avail of any opportunity that presents itself to act wrongly.

The Visitation Report for 1942 queried the discontinuance of training in woodwork, despite the presence of two Brothers qualified to teach the subject and a fully equipped trades room. The reason given was a difficulty in obtaining timber, which even at the time was regarded as spurious. Only 37 boys out of a total of 257 were engaged in trades. The Visitor also criticised the disbandment of the band, and noted that the instruments had been left to gather dust. The play hall was in a hazardous condition. He urged the School to organise games for the boys, he even suggested card games, in an effort to occupy them and avoid ‘danger to morals’.

Similar criticisms were made during the Visitation the following year, in terms of the lack of suitable activities for the boys. The Visitor was disturbed to see the boys ‘sitting or lying on the concrete yard for long periods when they could be playing in the field if games were organised for them’. Supervision of the boys was too lax and they could slip away all too easily with the result that ‘a few were caught acting immorally some time back in the garden’. The Visitor suggested that monitors be placed in the toilet area and that a tighter rein be kept on the boys. It seemed the task of supervision was left entirely to one Brother, namely the Sub-Superior, Br Rene, who was at this stage under considerable pressure. The Visitor was oblivious to the toll this was taking on Br Rene, as he noted that Br Rene ‘seems to enjoy it and does not ask for any relief’. It was also clear that Br Rene exercised a favourable influence over the boys, as ‘the nice, friendly spirit of the boys is attributed mainly to his influence on them. The ex-pupils appeal to him too when they need a friend’.

In fact, the Visitation Report of 1943 painted an extraordinarily grim picture of the ability of many of the Brothers in Carriglea to carry out any duties at all. In a Community of eight Brothers and two Coadjutor Brothers, five Brothers were identified as too old or unwell to regularly carry out their religious observances. Of the remaining five Brothers, the Superior was identified as being unwell and was replaced the following year because of ill-health. The long-suffering Br Rene was indeed almost alone in running this large Institution.

In 1944, Br Bryant was appointed Superior. He was 67 years of age. The same complaint regarding the lack of purposeful activities for the boys was once more repeated in the Visitation Report of 1944. The problems had been identified before and yet nobody, either in the Institution or in the Provincial Council, was prepared to address them. In the meantime, the Institution was heading for a complete breakdown in order.

The result of this poisoned atmosphere between the Brothers was borderline anarchy among the boys. The Visitation Report for 1945 described the situation: The boys were very much out of hand during the past year and showed a very rebellious spirit. Boohing the Brothers was not uncommon and they refused, more than once, to submit to control. They made a determined attempt on one occasion to burn down the place and had actually got a fire going in one of the dormitories before they were discovered.

Furthermore, the Visitation Report noted that not only were the boys rebellious, but there was widescale sexual activity amongst them. It was recorded that ‘immoral practices were rife’ to such an extent that even ‘boys of eleven years of age have been discovered practising immorality with one another’.

In his 1945 Report, the Visitor alluded to an even more sinister development. He noted that four workmen employed in the School received bed and board as part of their remuneration. Their sleeping cubicles were in or near the boys’ dormitories. The Visitor was informed by one of the Brothers that boys had been observed going into one of the workmen’s rooms several times. The Visitor was as much concerned by the fact that these workmen caused trouble in the kitchen, partaking in gossip and criticising their meals, as he was about the danger this man posed to the boys. A member of the General Council wrote to the Brother Provincial on 22nd October 1945, following receipt of the Visitation Report on Carriglea. He noted the ‘low standards in every department’ and blamed the elderly age profile of the staff. In his view, the staff required a complete overhaul. He surmised, ‘sin prevails in the school’.

Amongst the Brothers transferred to Carriglea was Br Maslin12, who had spent the previous five years in Letterfrack. He had also spent over a year in Tralee prior to that. He had a ferocious reputation as Disciplinarian in Letterfrack, to the extent that a Brother felt compelled to complain to a Visitor from the Provincial Council during an annual Visitation. In a letter outlining his concerns, he wrote that the Disciplinarian ‘can inflict terrible punishment on children and the boys have a awful dread of his anger’. The nub of the Brother’s concern, which he shared with other members of the Letterfrack Community, was that the Disciplinarian was happy to mete out severe punishment on the flimsiest of evidence, particularly if the alleged crime was sexual activity amongst boys.

This changing of the guard and introduction of Brothers who had records of enforcing discipline brought immediate results. In the Visitation Report of 1946, the Visitor noted ‘a marked improvement in the moral tone and outlook of the pupils’. However, he also commented on the fact that there had been no additions to the trades taught as previously recommended, nor had the band been resurrected.

While the remaining Visitation Reports did not comment adversely on the boys, it was telling as regards the general atmosphere of the Institution that the Visitor noted in 1953 that ‘none of the Brothers speaks very highly of the boys. They are said to be “tough” and secretive and to require a firm hand but discipline on the whole is good’.

The Visitation Reports of 1943 and 1945 referred to sexual activity amongst boys, and the latter report revealed that such activity was ‘rife’. In an institution where over 70% of the boys were under 12 years of age, this was a serious problem.

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.

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

Another witness who was resident in Carriglea in the early 1950s spoke of the food as being ‘absolutely horrible’. This witness recalled only receiving three meals a day, and not four as stated in the Visitation Reports. His description of the food served was very similar to the above witness. He also complained of not receiving enough food during his time in Carriglea and, consequently, having to resort to the pig swill to supplement his diet.