507 entries for Transfers

Br Marceau was moved to Tralee for the second time after cracking a boy’s jaw in Glin. One witness told the Committee that, during class, Br Marceau would stand him between his knees and put his arms around him and hug him into him. Sometimes he put his face on his shoulder, up against his face. Eventually, he would start putting his hand down the back of his trousers and fondling his bottom. This went on for ‘a period of time’. Br Marceau would call him up to the front of the classroom where this would happen. The other boys could not see what was happening and this happened to him a dozen times, maybe more.

A new Resident Manager was appointed in the late 1930s, and the Visitor recorded a month after his appointment that: this school suffered in reputation with Govt Inspectors and with the public. The boys were badly clothed, the standard of cleanliness was low and the food especially the dinner of the boys was poor. The name of the Scho did not stand high in Tralee and district and this militated against the influx of boys to the school. The new Superior, Br Dareau has done wonders in the short time he is here to improve the clothing, food and training of the boys and to raise the standard of cleanliness.

The negative impact of bad Resident Managers was clearly seen in Tralee, not only in terms of the physical care of the boys, but in every aspect of life there. The quality of the food improved in the 1950s with the improvements in the kitchen and the arrival of Br Lafayette. The Christian Brothers’ Opening Statement mentioned that Visitation Reports gave the impression that clothing and footwear were generally satisfactory but, in fact, there were numerous Inspector’s Reports indicating that clothing was below standard. Boys should not have gone hungry whilst produce from the farm was sold for private profit. This situation continued for a number of years before being stopped by a newly appointed Resident Manager.

In any large institution, discipline and control are intrinsically linked with the quality of leadership and management. For most of the period under review, Carriglea was badly managed, with too few Brothers accepting the mantle of responsibility for running this large industrial school. Four Brothers held the position of Superior throughout the 1940s. Two of these Brothers were elderly, Brs Pryor3 and Bryant4, and should not have been appointed to manage a school of over 250 boys.

In 1939, Br Pryor was appointed Superior, and Br Rene assumed the role of Sub-Superior. The new Superior was 72 years old. He was described in a Visitation Report as being ‘an out and out industrial school man’. He had spent a number of years in Artane, Tralee and three separate periods in Carriglea. He had previously held the position of Superior in Carriglea in the late 1920s.

Br Jolie7 was appointed Superior in 1942, with the outgoing Superior being appointed Councillor. The dynamic between the Sub-Superior and Councillor continued to affect relations within the Community, with the new Superior having to abandon Council meetings and confer separately with his two senior colleagues.

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.

By 1945, Br Rene had spent 24 years in Carriglea, holding the position of Superior for three years and Sub-Superior for a further six years. He requested a transfer to a day school, and was moved to a school outside Dublin.

It would appear from the documents that a request for a dispensation precipitated his transfer from Carriglea, and that the transfer was regarded as a solution to the problem. Whilst still in his next post after leaving Carriglea, Br Rene made a heartfelt plea for a dispensation in October 1946. He was at this stage almost 50 years old and had spent over 30 years with the Christian Brothers. Having spent most of his life with the Congregation, this could not have been an easy decision for him. He stated in a letter to the Br Superior that he had remained with the Congregation for so long to comply with his late mother’s wishes. He wrote: Success in striving towards our salvation is incompatible with unbroken unhappiness and agony of mind. This has been my condition so long that I can’t endure it any more and I am convinced that a complete mental breakdown is not far off. The strain is unbearable. Your reference to my work in Carriglea is kind. It is true that charitable people give me credit for what I can lay no claim to. I spent years at a work for which I was as qualified as a dock labourer – in fact probably less so. It is well known that only the useless ones of the Congregation found a place in the industrial schools. Therefore I can make no claim to merit because of the time I was there. In fact the years I spent there are an additional cause of regret to me due to my total unsuitability for a work requiring very special qualities of mind and character. Despite the opinions of at least some kindly people I know myself to have been a hopeless failure and one who should never have been placed over such unfortunate boys for whom only the best is good enough.

The Brother Provincial wrote to the Superior General on receipt of this letter. He believed that Br Rene was suffering from depression and that this was the impetus behind his application. He indicated that it was not the first time Br Rene had submitted an application and that, in the past, the matter had been defused by writing to him or meeting with him. He suggested that either a friend within the Congregation be requested to have a sympathetic talk with him, or that his application be forwarded to Rome in the likelihood that it would be refused. Br Rene’s application was unsuccessful.

Not to be deterred, Br Rene submitted a further application in May 1947. On this occasion, the Superior General of the General Council forwarded the application to Rome. In the covering letter, the Superior General stated that Br Rene was not a very well-educated man but that he had worked hard in industrial schools. He wrote that Br Rene suffered from depression and had taken to applying for dispensations when feeling gloomy. A sympathetic ear usually brought him around. The Superior General suggested that, if Br Rene was advised by the powers in Rome to remain in his vocation, he would abide by that decision.

As anticipated, the application was refused but the ploy did not have the desired effect. Br Rene was resolute in his determination to leave the Congregation. He wrote to the Superior General in June 1947 on receipt of the refusal of his application. He blamed his inability to articulate convincingly his reasons for seeking the dispensation for the refusal. He made a further poignant attempt to set out his reasons for making the request. He stated that he was profoundly unhappy and was in a constant state of anxiety and worry. He feared that he was on the brink of a nervous breakdown, having lived with this torturous state of mind for over 30 years. He argued that he was and always had been a hopeless failure at his work and that he lacked the ability to teach. He described himself as ‘a misfit in life’, becoming increasingly reclusive. He added: To my years in Carriglea I attribute my broken health principally and any thought of renewing contact with residential school work would only hasten the breakdown which I so much dread. Tis not that I despise such work, though this is the all too common attitude of the would-be snobs of the Congregation who regard such work and the men who do it as beneath them.

Br Rene accepted the decision of the General Council but his personal torment and anguish did not subside. He made a further plea five years later, at the age of 55. He referred to a previous letter from the Vicar General of the General Council and wrote: My devotion to duty to which you so kindly refer actually did much harm. Lacking every qualification for the work in Carriglea I had recourse to harshness and severity. As a result many of the past pupils have lost the faith and some are active, capable and influential communists. When these become sufficiently vocal it may be some help to the Brothers if they can say concerning me and in defence of the Congregation he is not in the Order now. I recall the relief it was to the Brothers to be able to say this about another ... years ago when a Dáil deputy spoke bitterly of the punishment he received in school from the man concerned. My utter failure in Carriglea caused me great remorse. Having no fitness for the work it was only to be expected that my efforts would result in failure and harm.

The Vicar General responded on 24th June 1952, informing Br Rene that his application had been submitted to the Sacred Congregation of Religious in Rome and that they had decided that he should remain in the Congregation. He commended Br Rene on his splendid work within the Congregation. The Vicar General conceded that ‘the nervous tension from which you have been suffering is admittedly a sore trial’, but assured him that such anguish was not confined to those within the religious community. He concluded that Br Rene should accept with resignation the decision made by his representatives. In doing so you will find your peace of mind restored and your happiness here as well as hereafter assured. Do not attempt becoming a judge of your own case. That would be the height of folly.

At this stage, Br Rene seems to have accepted his fate, and there is no record of any further applications seeking a dispensation. He remained with the Congregation until his death in the 1970s.