2,143 entries for Witness Testimony
BackOne witness recalled that none of the boys received prior warning about the transfer to Artane. On the day that he was transferred, he, along with the other boys, was told to get his belongings and go down to the schoolyard and then he was put on a bus. He eloquently summed up the effect of this lack of preparation and forewarning on him: It was just total bewilderment. It was totally distressing. I was already distressed being sent away from home at a young age. I was just starting to settle in there when I was uprooted and sent to Artane.
Another witness who was also transferred to Artane recounted a similar experience. He also said in evidence that the boys were not informed about the move prior to the transfer and, further, were not even told which school they were being sent to. He recalled that there was no discussion or talk whatsoever about the closure of Carriglea; it was kept very quiet. He described the events of the morning of the transfer: Buses came in, we were bussed off ... Some went all over different parts of Ireland. They were friends I had for five years and I never seen them again.
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>
Br Jules1 was appointed Resident Manager in the early 1950s. He abolished the separate post of Disciplinarian and assumed the duties himself. In an internal Christian Brothers interview that he gave, he recalled in relation to discipline: There were no written rules. There was a general understanding of rules, passed on from year to year. I never saw the “Rules and Regulations for the Industrial Schools”.
Br Coyan,2 speaking about his experiences in Glin, recalled Br Jules and his attitude to corporal punishment in the School: Well we had strict and firm orders from Br Jules, he was the boss and the principal. We were not to punish a young fella, if any young fella became troublesome, he was to be sent to him. I remember that occasion when I had the run in with [a boy], it was reported to him and he met me the next morning and he ate me for dead and I said sorry I lost my temper and that’s that.
He also added: While the Brother Superior was ultimately obliged to take responsibility for the pupils at Glin, there is no evidence of any formal management structures at the School.
The Councillor immediately wrote back on 1st October to demand answers to his questions, and to ask what ‘appropriate action’ had been taken. He wrote: In view of the grave public importance of the case before us I would ask you to kindly answer the questions as enumerated in my communication of August 3rd. I would also want to be informed under what law and the date thereof that a youth could be submitted to punishment so described in my communication. I would further want to know what appropriate action has been taken in this case at the direction of the Minister of Education.
Five Brothers referred to Br Serge in internal Christian Brothers interviews. Their comments on him were illuminating. One Brother, (Br Coyan) who went to Glin in the early 1950s and who was clearly referring to Br Serge, said: ... there was one there before I went there and he was very cruel. He left the Brothers. There was a big inquisition from either the Department or the Health Board his name won’t come to me just now. He was sent out of Glin and the kids were complaining about them continually and you daren’t mention his name. They hated the thought of him but he was sent down to the Brothers and he was sent down to the place but we followed his career afterwards, he became a principal outside and a parish priest was in trouble but that’s the only case and that was before my time.
He then added: I have often heard it from the lads themselves about this man. He could be dead by now for all I know, he was a bastard as they say and the kids hated the sight of him and he was a man who should never have been sent to Glin. To be sent to a place like that you have to have great rapport with the kids like. You are living with them as much as you would if you were in a family at home and you have to coax them along ... You are the only one that they can rely on ...
Br Hardouin,12 who was in Glin in the 1940s, also recalled the man: I can recall when the Department Inspector called to Glin to investigate a complaint made by a retired Brother against a member of the teaching staff who was accused of being too severe. The Brother accused was removed to a day school and the following Christmas was expelled from the Order. I imagine that the complaint may have been a contributory factor in his expulsion although he had previous problems during second year training.
Br Zacharie,13 who replaced Br Serge, said: I came there from Monaghan to replace a Brother who had been moved out because he was over severe ... I was advised to be nice to the kids and not to worry about examination results.
Br Gaston, who was resident in Glin during the 1950s, recalled talk about this Brother being investigated. He said: I cannot recall any situation where a formal complaint against the school was investigated by an outside group or individual, though I believe that there was such a situation in the School within three or four years prior to my coming.
A contemporary of Br Serge, Br Amaury,14 gave more details: The procedure for dealing with complaints would be that if any staff member or child in the school had a complaint he could bring that problem to the Superior/Manager, the sub superior, the school principal, the disciplinarian, or to the provincial or any one of his council. One such complaint was made during my year in Glin. It was made against one of the Brothers on the school staff. I do not know to what outside group or individual the complaint was made but the nature of it was that the man in question was over severe in having recourse to corporal punishment. None of the details of this complaint were made available to the community or staff in Glin. The boy who was named as the one who made the complaint was personally known to me and my impression of him was that he was a boy who would be very unlikely to do anything serious enough to merit severe corporal punishment. He was known to have been a close friend – a “masters pet” – one of the men who regularly did supervision in the school yard during recreation time. This does add more than a little likelihood to an opinion circulating at the time; that it was the “master” and not really the “pet” who caused the complaint to be made.
He explained how he introduced new boys to the School: when a new pupil came he would often be very upset. We had to point out to him that he was not wanted at home and convince him that life had not been that good at home; that we had taken him in, that he would be better off here.
The Department was somehow informed of the identity of the perpetrator, as the next letter was from Br Marceau to the Department, in which he referred to a recent interview in Tralee with a Department official. He was outraged that such an allegation could have been made and stated: I emphatically deny that I struck this boy on the face for a very insulting remark he made about me. I fail to understand how this false charge has been made against me. Therefore I have nothing to add to our recent conversation in St Joseph’s Tralee ...