2,143 entries for Witness Testimony

Six (6) Brothers were each reported by between 10 and 21 witnesses as having sexually abused them. These six Brothers were identified by a total of 89 witnesses and came from two particular Schools. These Schools had both the largest number of staff reported as sexually abusive and the most reports of sexual abuse made about particular staff members. Br ...X... sent for me, I had to go to his room and he said “kneel down and close your eyes”. ... He put his penis in my mouth ...crying and distressed... and I opened my eyes and he boxed me in the eyes. You couldn’t do anything if they came to abuse you, they would hit you a box or anything like that.

Among the religious Sisters, Brothers and priests who were reported as sexual abusers 24 were believed by witnesses to be Resident Managers or officers in charge of the Schools. Ninety (90) religious staff, including three religious Sisters and three priests, identified as abusers were in care roles and 24 were in teaching roles. Seventeen (17) religious staff identified as sexual abusers were occupied in an ancillary capacity on farms, in kitchens, laundries and infirmaries. Religious ancillary staff were described as having control over their area of work, particularly kitchens, farmyards, and infirmaries, where they were identified as sexually abusing many witnesses. The first job I had was in the laundry, after a few weeks he ...(Br X)... called me in to the office and said “if you ever have any problems don’t hesitate to come to me”. He had his arm around me at this stage, he put his other hand down inside my trousers.... I pulled away and wouldn’t allow him to do it, he hit me a box in my face with his fist and told me to get out of his office. ... Twice I had to masturbate him ...(Br X)... in the hospital ...(infirmary).... The hospital was the place where they would give the boys medication. ... He’d bring you in and he’d pull across the curtains. ... He’d ...(Br X)... have his Cassock up underneath the band, the belt, and he’d get me to rub him. • While working in the kitchen I was kissed by Br ...X... regularly and the boys who witnessed it ridiculed me. ... Br ...Y... made me fondle him and rubbed himself up against me.

Witnesses identified 19 male and six female lay staff as sexually abusive. The main occupational group identified were lay ancillary staff of whom 11 were named by 21 witnesses. These staff were mainly night watchmen and farm workers employed by the Schools. The most frequently reported form of sexual abuse perpetrated by male ancillary staff was anal rape and masturbation. Two (2) lay teachers and trade instructors were reported by a small number of witnesses as sexually abusive. The other lay staff who were identified as sexually abusive were both male and female care staff. Reports of sexual abuse in relation to these staff refer mostly to those discharged in the 1970s and 1980s and the forms of abuse generally reported were inappropriate fondling and masturbation. There was a number of lads in the dormitory ...who wet the bed. ... I was one of those. I never wet the bed before going to ...named School.... ...Named lay ancillary worker... knew exactly who to take out ...(to the toilet).... There was this night watchman who got the boys out of the bed.... One particular night I was told to stay back when the other boys went back in. The first instance I had I was in the cubicle and I was told to take my pyjamas down and he fondled my privates and he told me to do the same to him. This went on for a couple of nights, then one particular night.... Same again, I was the last one back in and the same again, and then it got worse. ... The next time it was totally different ...witness described anal rape.... I screamed but he put his hand over my mouth, I don’t know how long it went on for and was told to go back to the bed and say nothing. I got back in to bed, wrapped myself up in a ball as small as could be. It was different, I was crying. The next thing I woke up and the sheets were destroyed with blood.

There were 39 reports from witnesses of being sexually abused by co-residents in all the Schools referred to by witnesses and across all decades about which reports were made. ‘It was the older boys. Basically they would drag your trousers down and masturbate you.’ Seven (7) co-residents were identified by name. The largest number of reports of sexual abuse by co-residents related to four of the Schools identified. Included in the 39 reports were two reports of sexual abuse by fondling and inappropriate contact by female co-residents in two different Schools during the 1980s. Reports of sexual abuse by older co-residents were most often associated with physical abuse and reports of bullying. There was an older boy there he was the teacher’s pet, his name was ...X.... He sexually abused me and most of the boys in the School. He was a right bully. • (On admission)... I was taken into the washroom ...(by)... the Brother and a young fella, he was about 16 years old. First they got me the clothes, the School clothes. They were taking me to be washed. I had to strip off in front of the young fella, the Brother went off. The young fella washed me and then when he was drying me he started to interfere with me, I knew what he was doing. I started to scream. The Brother came back in and said “what’s happening?” ...(The)... young fella said “he won’t let me wash him”. ...(I said)...”he gave me a slap on the face”. ...(Brother said)... “I’m not asking you.” I was only in the School for an hour.

The Committee heard 19 witness reports of sexual abuse by older residents in a number of Schools. In most instances the reports of sexual abuse by co-residents were of aggressive assaults by more than one co-resident resulting in masturbation or anal rape. Witnesses reported being waylaid by older co-residents in the toilets, yards and corridors where there was little supervision. Some witnesses stated that being sexually abused by older co-residents offered them a measure of protection from physical abuse by other residents and that at times the experience of such sexual activity was consensual. Seven (7) witnesses reported that they sexually abused younger residents or engaged in consensual sexual activity with a co-resident. There was things ...(sexual abuse)... going on, between the lads, and I was absorbed into it. The way we behaved with one another, it was all based on fear. The physical violence ... it was the way the whole thing was held together. ... You had the strongest to the weakest boys, the strongest can pick on anybody, the strongest do it to the weakest boys and the darkness is handed out back along.

In a small number of Schools, witnesses reported being sexually abused by older residents who had a disciplinary role and were known as monitors. There were six reports from four different Schools of sexual abuse by co-residents being observed by religious staff and another 19 reports from witnesses who believed that such behaviour was either condoned or actively encouraged by the religious staff. Some of the senior boys were rapists themselves. My way of looking at it now was they were institutionalised themselves because the School was mixed, you had juvenile offenders, you had kids from broken homes, you had orphan kids, they never saw a woman around the place. All you seen was guys. I was ...(sexually)... abused by a lot of these older boys. Within the first 3 months I was there, the older boy who was on my table, he was in charge ... he seemed to get on very well with the Brothers. He was always well treated by the Brothers. He abused me in a garden shed with another boy and a Brother. ... They subjected me to being raped, and I was threatened that I would be thrown in the slurry pit. The Brother, Br ...X... raped me in front of the boy.... That was the only time where there was a boy and a Brother together.

The Committee heard reports of sexual abuse by visitors and volunteer workers from seven witnesses in relation to one specific School. These men were members of the general public, each of whom was believed to be known to religious staff. The witnesses described being collected by car and taken to men’s homes, the cinema or on trips to the seaside or country. Four (4)) witnesses reported being taken with co-residents on a regular basis, one by a group of men overnight and the other three witnesses by a man in a van who bought them sweets and ice-cream and sexually abused them by fondling or masturbation, either in the van or in his home. Four of the 11 witnesses reported being taken alone for overnight excursions where they shared rooms and beds with identified abusers in their homes, guesthouses or other accommodation. Witnesses described these outings as apparently spontaneous. The man who took you out on your own, I don’t know how it happened, I don’t know how you were chosen, the Brother came out in the yard and would say “who wants to go?” If I had been street wise I could have avoided this, I didn’t know “bent” or “gay”. The School band had been up and down the country for engagements, one Sunday we were in ...named town... this guy arrives up ... I was called to the office, the next I know is, “Mr ...X... is going to take you out for the day”. The next thing I knew was this guy was getting me into the car ... and I knew this was different because we were driving out to the country, I knew by the signs. I knew ... we would not get back for 9 o’clock.... We drove to a country town, it was a quiet town. ... There was no stopping for tea or chips or anything like that. The next thing we were in his house, and it was straight into the bedroom. I see this framed photograph of myself on the mantelpiece. He shows me the bedroom and says “this is where we are going to sleep”. ... But I had no pyjamas, no overnight things or anything, and he says “we are going to bed” and I thinks to myself, “where is my bed?” and the next thing he takes off his clothes and is naked. I had never seen a man completely naked before. I think to myself “well, I’ll keep my jocks on, I’ll keep my socks on”. ... My mind is completely racing, I don’t know what to think, I think “what will I keep on?” ... I have a memory of him trying to muster some words “it’s a bit of fun” or something ... “I’m not going to hurt you”. He was physically trying to touch me, the rest is a blank, I don’t remember anymore.

One witness reported that having told the priest in Confession that he had been sexually abused by a male visitor, he believed the priest informed a Brother who subsequently beat him for ‘...taking the good name of a decent man who is sacrificing his home for the sake of a guttersnipe like you’.

A small number of witnesses from two Schools reported having extended contact with visitors and volunteer workers who they remarked were friendly with the female religious Resident Managers and appeared to have free access to the Schools. These visitors helped residents in various ways, including with their homework and took them on outings and for holidays. A witness reported that he was sexually abused over a three-year period by one such visitor. Another witness gave the following account of being sexually abused and raped by a male visitor: She ...(Sr X)... introduced a personal friend of hers called ...named male visitor.... He was not employed by the Sisters or the Health Board. He started to come once a week, maybe twice a week, and then it was building up. He was there a lot of the days in the evenings after work ... and most of the weekend. Now ...named male visitor... was the person who sexually abused me while I was in ...named School.... He was very close to Sr ...X.... He took an interest in me. I thought it was brilliant because for the first time someone was taking an interest in me. ... He came in to say good night to us. He went around to everybody and said goodnight ... and then he came and sat on my bed and told me he loved me and I was a great boy and he started tiddling ...(tickling)... me. This was all very gradually. He started putting his hands in my pyjamas, very touchy, now I didn’t mind and it was our secret and that sort of thing. Then he got permission to bring me to his house ... and he would abuse me there and he brought me away for a weekend sometimes and he abused me. Work, weekend and holiday placement providers and others

There were 379 witness reports of food provided to residents being inadequate in both quality and sufficiency. The reports referred to 21 Schools. Three hundred and forty nine (349) reports of poor and inadequate food were made by witnesses who were discharged before 1970. Some witnesses reported having so little to eat that at times they were starving. The Committee heard many reports from witnesses of attempts to satisfy their hunger by ‘raiding’ the garden, orchard and kitchens for extra food, eating grasses, dandelion, hawthorn, sorrel leaves and wild berries found while out on walks and while working in the fields. Witnesses also reported taking food from slop buckets, potatoes and other feed prepared for pigs, skimmed milk for calves and dried animal feed in the farmyards. Bread dipped in dripping and shell cocoa described by one witness as ‘unsweetened sludge’ was a standard part of the diet recounted by witnesses discharged in the years before the 1960s. In the morning you got 2 cuts of bread and dripping, the dripping was put on the night before. The food was terrible there, you were hungry, it was rationed even though the place was self-sufficient. They had their own tomatoes and orchard too, but we never got them. • Hunger was extreme, we stole cattle nuts and mangels and the hosts from the altar because we were so hungry. • You were hungry all the time, all the bloody time. We got bread and dripping, it would be rock hard by the time you got it. ... I was always hungry, there was never enough. ... I worked in the kitchen and you stole for your friends, if you were caught, you were terrified.

Throughout all decades reported to the Committee witnesses noted differences between the quality and quantity of food available to them and that which was provided for the religious staff, as observed by witnesses who worked in kitchens preparing and serving food for both residents and staff. I had to serve breakfast for the Brothers, as you got older you used to serve breakfast. I couldn’t believe the breakfast they had.... I can’t believe what we get and what they get. One day I nicked an orange, they get a whole orange! There was a woman there. She cooked breakfast for them.

Many witnesses said that although there were large farms attached to their Schools the produce from the farms was generally not provided for the residents. Witnesses from six Schools described preparing potatoes and other vegetables for sale and being involved in the distribution of various types of farm produce for sale outside the School. Witnesses who were prescribed special diets or extra milk and eggs reported that the recommended food was not always provided for them although they stated that in some Schools it was available for sale. The food was poor and scarce, I was always hungry, the boys harvested the produce from the farm but it was not provided to them, the Brothers’ kitchen was separate and their food was much better. • We used go to the farm and rob spuds, they used to cultivate the farm in fields out the back ... the veg they grew they used to make money, string beans and all ... used be sold, I used to see them.

In addition to reports about the inadequate amounts of food provided to residents, witnesses also reported that the lack of supervision in the refectories meant that in several Schools the youngest or most recently arrived residents were dependant on older residents leaving enough food for them to eat in the rush for what was provided. Witnesses reported being frequently left without any food: I was always cold and hungry, smaller and weaker boys missed out in the general grab for food which was not supervised or was supervised and condoned by the Brothers ... and in the refectory it meant older boys ate most of the food. • You had a loaf of bread between 4, and you would have a tin saucer, you would put a cross on it and you’d spin the knife ...(to see who got the largest share)... it was never even.

Witnesses said that extra food was at times provided for favoured residents or for those who did labouring work for the School: The food was very poor. We were always hungry but when we were working building ... (new buildings) ... the work crew got a fry up breakfast, for extra strength.

Witnesses reported improvements in both the quantity and variety of food provided in most Schools during the 1970s and 1980s. There were, however, seven reports of inadequate provision of food from witnesses who were discharged in the 1980s. These reports referred to Schools that had consistently been the subject of reports of dietary neglect during the preceding decades. Improvements in dietary provision during the 1970s and 1980s were often reported to be related to the presence of certain staff members: The food was terrible, we never had enough. Lumpy porridge, glue and lumpy potatoes, stew sometimes, bread and cocoa. The boys traded for food. We were told to tell the ...inspector... that we got better food than we actually did. Everything improved after Br ...X ... (Resident Manager)... left.