375 entries for Historical Context
BackHis examination of the data revealed that, apart from one 12-year-old boy who was sentenced for a period of one and a half years, ‘not one of the boys above was committed for less than the maximum period allowed by law’. In short, no boy was to leave the School before the age of 16.
He went on to note: Even if crimes such as larceny, truanting and housebreaking, which may well have been motivated by poverty are excluded from the list of offences directly attributable to poverty – it is clear that over 48% of the boys were committed to Glin as a direct consequence of their impoverished backgrounds.
Mr Dunleavy stated that, between 1947 and 1966, the reasons for admissions were as follows:<br><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th><strong>Reason for admission</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Number</strong></th>
 </tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Having a parent not a proper guardian</td>
 <td>218</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Destitution</td>
 <td>95</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Larceny</td>
 <td>35</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Not attending school</td>
 <td>12</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Housebreaking</td>
 <td>7</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Wandering</td>
 <td>6</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Homelessness</td>
 <td>4</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Parents unable to control child</td>
 <td>3</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Receiving Alms</td>
 <td>2</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Parent unable to support child</td>
 <td>2</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Fraud</td>
 <td>1</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Being under the care of a parent with criminal habits</td>
 <td>1</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Total<br></br></td>
 <td>386</td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
The Industrial Schools Act (Ireland), 1868 had envisaged that each school be under the control of a Manager and Management Committee, with the day-to-day running of the school under the supervision of a Resident Manager. In Glin, however, as in all Christian Brothers’ industrial schools, the role of Resident Manager was assumed by the local Superior of the Community. The House Council, consisting of the Superior, Sub-Superior, and one or more Councillors, served as a form of Management Committee.
The numbers in the primary school in Glin varied from a maximum of 212 boys, in the late 1940s, to 48 when the School closed in 1966. The average number of teachers who served on the staff was five.
Oral hearings were not held into Salthill, and this chapter is based on an analysis of relevant documents, including those obtained by the discovery process from the Christian Brothers, the Department of Education and Science, the Bishop of Galway and the Health Service Executive (formerly the Western Health Board) and submissions from the Christian Brothers.
St Joseph’s Industrial School, Salthill (‘Salthill’) traced its history back to 1870, when a public meeting in the Town Hall in Galway approved a proposal to establish an industrial school for boys and appointed a committee to implement the project. Land and premises were acquired in Salthill in June 1871 and were adapted to accommodate 50 boys.
The Patrician Brothers agreed to manage the School under a committee of laymen and religious. The purpose of the School was to take in ‘neglected, orphaned, and abandoned Roman Catholic boys, in order to safeguard them from developing criminal tendencies and to prepare them for the world of industry’. According to the School annals, on 25th September 1871, ‘twenty-one poor boys were admitted to the School, most of them in the lowest state of destitution and misery’.
The School got off to a difficult start, and initial reports from the Inspector for Industrial and Reformatory Schools were negative. There were problems with management in the School which caused the Patrician Brothers to withdraw. The Government Inspector, Mr John Lentaigne, called to the Superior General of the Christian Brothers in July 1876 and asked him to take over the running of Salthill.
The Christian Brothers inspected the premises and set out the terms upon which they would undertake the management of the School, and these were agreed with the Bishop. By the terms of this agreement, the Congregation held the property with the Bishop of Galway under a trust, of which the Bishop and two members of the Congregation were the perpetual trustees.
All existing debts and liabilities were paid by the committee that had originally set up the School, and an overdraft facility was set up in the local bank.
The Brother in charge was designated the Resident Manager and it was agreed, ‘That he shall not be obliged to furnish any other accounts to the Committee, or sub-managers, than those annually presented to government’.
Although this agreement clearly envisaged that the School would be run under the supervision of a management committee, as required by the Industrial Schools Act (Ireland), 1868, such a committee was never put in place by the Congregation and it ran the School in the same way as it ran all its industrial schools.
The population of the School rose rapidly in the early years, with the certified number increasing to 150 in 1879 and 200 in 1886. Through fund-raising activities the School facilities were extended to accommodate the growing numbers, for example, a chapel and dining room were built from the profits of a three-day bazaar held in 1879. Workshops were built shortly after the Christian Brothers took over. It was part of the agreement entered into with the Bishop that the diocese would support fund-raising activity on behalf of the Brothers.
The annals from these early years showed a great interest in the School from political and religious leaders. The Duke of Edinburgh visited with a dozen army officers in attendance and, in 1895, both the Archbishop of Melbourne and Lord Carnarvon, the Lord Lieutenant, visited within a month of each other. In 1887, the Papal Legate paid tribute to ‘this admirable institution and excellent establishment’.