2,143 entries for Witness Testimony

As can be seen, 81% of those discharged to a relative went to a parent or parents.

The Congregation conceded in regard to vocational training: As regards the standards reached in the Shops, it is doubtful if it went much beyond repairs and mending ... However, judging by the very poor record of placement of boys in boot-making and tailoring the skills most of the boys had to offer were not very considerable.

In their Opening Statement for Letterfrack, the Christian Brothers recorded the facts about this Brother in summary form, noting that he ‘was given the opportunity to explain himself and give his interpretation of what happened’. They commented: It is not clear why Br X was moved around from institution to institution despite being a danger to the boys. There is no detailed account to indicate what discussion took place about the matter, nor any indication as to why such a decision was taken.

St Joseph’s, Cabra was not like any other residential school run by the Christian Brothers. They stated in their Opening Submission: St Joseph’s was first and foremost a school for deaf children from all parts of Ireland. It had a residential component for those children who could not travel on a daily basis to the school. All children who came to school did so voluntarily and it is this feature of electing to come to school that differentiates it from any other residential service that the Congregation ran for children such as the Industrial Schools in Artane and Letterfrack.

It appears from correspondence in the early 1980s that Br Ames believed he and other school staff were entitled to resort to physical chastisement when occasion required. In the course of a reply to a parent’s letter complaining about physical abuse by another Brother, Br Ames admitted hitting the boy himself for what he thought was good reason: ‘We must look at the case realistically’. He said that the boy was ‘by no means an easy boy to manage’ and at times he ‘found it necessary to give him a good “clip” and I make no apology for this as I have been put to the end of my tether with him’.

Br Ames did in fact leave the School in the late 1980s. The Christian Brothers in their Submission of 2006 said: The fact of a manager being of a dour disposition does not of itself support the veracity of any allegation of physical abuse made against him. Before being posted to Cabra, Br Ames had been appointed as Manager in [an] Industrial School where he introduced many changes and innovations. Allegation against an Assistant House Parent, Mr O’Sullivan4

The Christian Brothers in their Submission dated October 2006 acknowledged that individual Brothers had sexually abused boys in their care, but argued that there was ‘no evidence that it was a systemic phenomenon’. They defended the manner in which the Congregation dealt with such allegations, saying that there was no cover up and that: Each incident was investigated thoroughly as soon as it came to the attention of the relevant authorities, and action was promptly taken. There was no cover up.

One of the boys who is referred to in this letter made a statement to the Gardaí around the time of Mr Brander’s most recent conviction: In my last year in CBS James’ St it was common knowledge that Brother [Brander] was interfering with other boys. I personally was never touched by Brother [Brander]. Back then ... it was a common thing for Brother [Brander] to keep one of the boys back after class.

He mentioned two boys as coming to mind and continued: but I cannot be sure if Brother [Brander] interfered with them or not. I remember the talk about Brother [Brander] at that time was that he would come up behind the boy he’d keep back after school and touch him and ask the boy if he had any marbles. I remember soon after I left CBS James’ St a group of us boys that had finished school went to see the head Brother. I can’t remember the head brothers name at that time, it may have been Brother [Lessard]. I remember we told the head brother about imoral things Brother [Brander] was doing. The head Brother brought us into a room and I remember he gave us cigarettes. He took us very seriously and told us that we may have to repeat what we had told him and that he would check out what we told him. I never heard anything from that head brother afterwards.

Mr Rothe, a former pupil of Mr Brander’s, gave evidence that rumours of Mr Brander’s behaviour preceded his arrival in Walsh Island NS. He recalled: It was said before he arrived that he was extremely tough and it was also rumoured that he had been thrown out of St Michael’s CBS Inchicore.

Within a week of his arrival, the rumours were proved well founded. On the surface, Mr Brander was very religious, very conscientious and hardworking. However, he administered extreme physical punishment. Mr Rothe described the type of punishment Mr Brander would use: One of the punishments he had was to hit you with his knuckles on the top of the head which caused headaches ... [another was] being slapped on the hands and ending up with swollen hands ... On many days he would, before he left in the evenings at three o’ clock he would actually count the number of slaps he gave out that day. Everything revolved around physical punishment.

Mr Rothe also gave evidence of the regular sexual abuse the children suffered and said: if it wasn’t happening to me it was happening to someone else ... His MO was that he had a stool, a high stool that he used to sit on, he wouldn’t have the book so he would ask the child to come up, the child would stand, me in some instances, between his legs and he would have you reading from the book while he was holding your shoulder and masturbating against you ... It wasn’t the only place he abused ... I can remember one day a group of us around the blackboard ... and he was putting his hands inside my clothes and rubbing himself on me while other children were standing literally beside me.

In the course of the Garda investigation in the mid-1990s, Fr Derek was interviewed. He said that no parent approached him about Mr Brander’s conduct, and the memorandum of that interview continued: The first he knew about problems in Walsh Island NS was when Fr. [Colm] told him that he was going to the school to get Mr [Brander] to resign due to ill treatment of a boy. He, Fr. [Colm], had a document prepared for Mr [Brander] to sign. Mr. [Brander] was gone from the school overnight. Nobody in Walsh Island NS wanted to talk about the situation. I.N.T.O.11 came down to see Fr [Colm] ...

Mr Gadd said that he gradually became angry at Mr Brander’s behaviour: What I recollect most clearly about that is that his attitude towards girls in the School left much to be desired and one heard stories that he was prone to give physical beatings to the girls, that he was prone to beat girls about the face ... I came into a classroom one day and I found that he had a senior student on her knees at the front of the class. I am not sure if he hit her though about the face, I think that he possibly had.

Physical assaults were committed openly and in public settings. Sr Giuliana gave evidence that: well it was mostly at the games as far as I can recollect. I do know a few instances, well, now I can keep two in mind, where a couple of boys got black eyes because he was strict with them on the games field.