Baltimore Industrial School
Sunday, May 07, 2006
The Investigation Committee - REPORT INTO BALTIMORE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
"I have no time really to wait for three or four [or] five years for a finding . . . I only hope that somebody has the courage to take on board these things."
These words come from the transcript of a hearing of the Child Abuse Committee at which a former pupil of the Baltimore Fisheries School (Baltimore Industrial School) recounted on oath his experiences of life in that institution in the 1940s. At the time of hearing, the witness was seventy-one years of age and he had experienced medical problems.
Life in Baltimore School as recounted by the witnesses was so harsh and deprived by the standards of today as to verge on the unbelievable, were it not for the fact that a contemporaneous record is available to give credence to the testimony.
The evidence of the witnesses in relation to life as they experienced it in Baltimore School, although occasionally more graphic, is closely mirrored in the inspection reports which have survived.
Appalling accommodation they were living in: the large dirty dormitories; the poor quality beds with flea infested and urine saturated mattresses and bedding.
Even by the standards of the time, the lack of hygiene and the unhygienic practices described by the witnesses seem remarkable. On bathing day the bath water was changed after five or six boys had bathed. There were no toothbrushes or toothpaste, combs, soaps or personal towels. The clothing and the bedding was verminous. There were outbreaks of scabies.
On the inadequacy of the food. The witnesses recalled that the pupils were not merely hungry, they were literally starving. They were compelled to supplement their diet by eating raw vegetables and vegetation, potatoes, turnips, mangolds, carrots and sorrel, by eating barnacles at the seashore and by scavenging, begging and stealing in the village of Baltimore.
Many of the witnesses commented on their lack of physical stature, which they believed was attributable to the inadequate diet they received in their formative years in Baltimore. Over half a century later, the Committee noted that the lack of physical stature was still observable.
The physical hardship and deprivation described by the witnesses was observed and reported on in the course of the general and medical inspections carried out by the departmental medical inspector.
The method of enforcing discipline employed in Baltimore School, both in the classroom and in the school generally, was the infliction of physical punishment.
Its frequency and its severity was suggestive of a regime in which infliction of severe physical punishment in the classroom was systemic.
A significant feature of the evidence was the fear which the enforcement of discipline engendered in the pupils. Witnesses testified that in later life, they had nightmares about being beaten.
From their hesitancy to recount their experiences and from their reticence about articulating the details, it was patently obvious that they were not accustomed to discussing such matters, although some had attended a counsellor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist.
Witnesses demonstrated a convincing and clear recollection of the core events. The evidence was characterised by idiosyncratic, unsolicited detail.
There was credible evidence from a significant number of witnesses that they were subjected to gross sexual abuse, including anal and oral intercourse, by him. There was also credible evidence of attempted sexual abuse and sexual advances which were successfully rebuffed. There was consistency between the accounts of the witnesses, each of whom gave his evidence to the Committee in private.
The Committee's findings are based only on evidence which would be admissible in a court and the standard applied is proof on the balance of probabilities.
The Committee is satisfied that the witnesses were honest and truthful. While not corroborative of each other in the strict sense, the evidence of the witnesses is characterised by similarity of fact and consistency. The Committee is also satisfied that, far from having any ulterior or secondary motivation for giving evidence to the Committee, the motivation of the witnesses was wholly altruistic: it was to ensure the children of today and tomorrow do not experience what they experienced in childhood.
"I have no time really to wait for three or four [or] five years for a finding . . . I only hope that somebody has the courage to take on board these things."
These words come from the transcript of a hearing of the Child Abuse Committee at which a former pupil of the Baltimore Fisheries School (Baltimore Industrial School) recounted on oath his experiences of life in that institution in the 1940s. At the time of hearing, the witness was seventy-one years of age and he had experienced medical problems.
Life in Baltimore School as recounted by the witnesses was so harsh and deprived by the standards of today as to verge on the unbelievable, were it not for the fact that a contemporaneous record is available to give credence to the testimony.
The evidence of the witnesses in relation to life as they experienced it in Baltimore School, although occasionally more graphic, is closely mirrored in the inspection reports which have survived.
Appalling accommodation they were living in: the large dirty dormitories; the poor quality beds with flea infested and urine saturated mattresses and bedding.
Even by the standards of the time, the lack of hygiene and the unhygienic practices described by the witnesses seem remarkable. On bathing day the bath water was changed after five or six boys had bathed. There were no toothbrushes or toothpaste, combs, soaps or personal towels. The clothing and the bedding was verminous. There were outbreaks of scabies.
On the inadequacy of the food. The witnesses recalled that the pupils were not merely hungry, they were literally starving. They were compelled to supplement their diet by eating raw vegetables and vegetation, potatoes, turnips, mangolds, carrots and sorrel, by eating barnacles at the seashore and by scavenging, begging and stealing in the village of Baltimore.
Many of the witnesses commented on their lack of physical stature, which they believed was attributable to the inadequate diet they received in their formative years in Baltimore. Over half a century later, the Committee noted that the lack of physical stature was still observable.
The physical hardship and deprivation described by the witnesses was observed and reported on in the course of the general and medical inspections carried out by the departmental medical inspector.
The method of enforcing discipline employed in Baltimore School, both in the classroom and in the school generally, was the infliction of physical punishment.
Its frequency and its severity was suggestive of a regime in which infliction of severe physical punishment in the classroom was systemic.
A significant feature of the evidence was the fear which the enforcement of discipline engendered in the pupils. Witnesses testified that in later life, they had nightmares about being beaten.
From their hesitancy to recount their experiences and from their reticence about articulating the details, it was patently obvious that they were not accustomed to discussing such matters, although some had attended a counsellor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist.
Witnesses demonstrated a convincing and clear recollection of the core events. The evidence was characterised by idiosyncratic, unsolicited detail.
There was credible evidence from a significant number of witnesses that they were subjected to gross sexual abuse, including anal and oral intercourse, by him. There was also credible evidence of attempted sexual abuse and sexual advances which were successfully rebuffed. There was consistency between the accounts of the witnesses, each of whom gave his evidence to the Committee in private.
The Committee's findings are based only on evidence which would be admissible in a court and the standard applied is proof on the balance of probabilities.
The Committee is satisfied that the witnesses were honest and truthful. While not corroborative of each other in the strict sense, the evidence of the witnesses is characterised by similarity of fact and consistency. The Committee is also satisfied that, far from having any ulterior or secondary motivation for giving evidence to the Committee, the motivation of the witnesses was wholly altruistic: it was to ensure the children of today and tomorrow do not experience what they experienced in childhood.
LETTER MAKES LIARS OF SISTERS OF MERCY
Saturday, May 06, 2006
DAMNING letters from the Department of Education setting out the serious neglect of children at Newtownforbes industrial school, Co Longford, in the early 1940s, were presented to the Commission on Child Abuse. The letters catalogued attempts by the Department to improve conditions at the school up to the mid-1940s, when their efforts began to bear fruit.
Sr Margaret Casey, leader of the western province of the Mercy Sisters, testified to the Child Abuse Commission and admitted that many of the children found their time at the school to be "harsh, impersonal, abusive and deeply humiliating".
A 1940 letter, addressed to the nun in charge of the school, told her: "I cannot find any excuse which would exonerate you and your staff from the verminous condition of several of the children's heads."
The letter, written by the medical inspector of the Department, Dr Anna McCabe, continued: "I was not satisfied in finding so many of the girls in the infirmary suffering from bruises on their bodies. I wish particularly to draw attention to the latter as under no circumstances can the Department tolerate treatment of this nature."
It blamed the "neglect of supervision and individual attention" as the reason for "the dirty condition of the heads and the untreated abscess I discovered in the child in the infirmary".
It warned that "immediate steps will have to be taken to remedy" conditions at the school, and that, unless there was "a marked and sustained improvement when the school is next inspected . . . I will be reluctantly compelled to take the matter further."
Sr Casey, who was a day-pupil at the school between 1954 and 1967, told the Commission that prior to the 1990s there was no awareness within her order of the damage done to some of the children in its care. She said the first complaint about Newtownforbes surfaced after the 'Dear Daughter' drama-documentary about life at Goldenbridge orphanage was aired by RTE in 1996. In all, five complaints about abuse and ill-treatment suffered by residents of the industrial school were received. These related to the period 1939-1965. The school was opened in 1869 and closed in 1969. At its peak it housed 159 children.
Sr Margaret Casey, leader of the western province of the Mercy Sisters, testified to the Child Abuse Commission and admitted that many of the children found their time at the school to be "harsh, impersonal, abusive and deeply humiliating".
A 1940 letter, addressed to the nun in charge of the school, told her: "I cannot find any excuse which would exonerate you and your staff from the verminous condition of several of the children's heads."
The letter, written by the medical inspector of the Department, Dr Anna McCabe, continued: "I was not satisfied in finding so many of the girls in the infirmary suffering from bruises on their bodies. I wish particularly to draw attention to the latter as under no circumstances can the Department tolerate treatment of this nature."
It blamed the "neglect of supervision and individual attention" as the reason for "the dirty condition of the heads and the untreated abscess I discovered in the child in the infirmary".
It warned that "immediate steps will have to be taken to remedy" conditions at the school, and that, unless there was "a marked and sustained improvement when the school is next inspected . . . I will be reluctantly compelled to take the matter further."
Sr Casey, who was a day-pupil at the school between 1954 and 1967, told the Commission that prior to the 1990s there was no awareness within her order of the damage done to some of the children in its care. She said the first complaint about Newtownforbes surfaced after the 'Dear Daughter' drama-documentary about life at Goldenbridge orphanage was aired by RTE in 1996. In all, five complaints about abuse and ill-treatment suffered by residents of the industrial school were received. These related to the period 1939-1965. The school was opened in 1869 and closed in 1969. At its peak it housed 159 children.
Gross Malnutrition of Children in Industrial Schools
13 Eanar 1945 I.R.226/44,
Runai,
Roinn Airgeadais
I am directed by the Minister for Education to inform you that he is gravely concerned at the evidence which has been reaching him for a considerable time of the malnutrition of children in industrial schools, particularly those for girls and junior boys. Shortly after her appointment in 1939, the Department's Medical Inspector, Dr. McCabe, set about the task of bringing the dietary in these schools up to such a level that the children would thrive on it and put on weight in a normal way. She revised the diet scales in all schools and advised individual schools on the deficiencies in their dietaries. She introduced a system whereby the resident manager of every school is required to keep a medical chart in respect of each child, upon which, inter alia, the weight and height of the child must be entered each quarter. These charts enable the child's progress in weight to be compared with the normal for its age and height.
These and other measures brought about a marked improvement during the early war years. Unfortunately this has not been maintained and the position for some time past has been serious. The Medical Inspector has stated time and again that the general standard of nutrition is too low. This grave state of affairs is due, to a degree which varies with the circumstances of each individual school, to the following causes:
(1) Inability to provide adequate quantities of food owing to the rise in prices;
(2) Failure to do so owing to parsimony; and
(3) Failure to provide a properly balanced diet (even when the quantity is adequate) owing to lack of training in the management of institutions for children and ignorance of fundamental dietetic principles.
As to (1), the payment of the State capitation grant on all committed children (instead of on the "certified number") and the increase from 5s/ - to 7s/6d per week of the State and local authority grants for children under 6, (both changes took effect as from the 1st July last), have done something to ease the schools' financial position. When pressed to improve diet, however, managers complain continually that they cannot afford to do so, or that they can do so only by economising elsewhere e.g. in clothing. The Association of Managers has applied
for an emergency bonus of 5s/- per week per child. There is no doubt that the schools, particularly the smaller ones and those that have no farms or very small ones, have a case for an emergency increase in their income (in common with every other section of the community) if they are to be compelled to maintain, and in many cases, to improve upon, their pre-war standards of food and clothing.
As to (2), the strongest possible action has been taken in all cases where the Department was satisfied that parsimony was the predominant cause of gross malnutrition. Two resident managers have been removed from office at the request of the Minister for Education. Others have been solemnly warned and will be removed in due course if there is no adequate improvement. (In one such case in Co. Cork the warning was given personally by the Secretary to the Department accompanied by the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools.)
As to (3), this is a contributory cause of malnutrition in all schools, particularly those conducted by nuns, and an effort to eradicate it is an essential part of the general attack on malnutrition. It is proposed to have a course in institutional management and UNREADABLE next summer and to invite the sister or sisters in charge of the catering in each of the 43 schools conducted by nuns to attend. The City of Dublin Vocational Committee will be asked to conduct the course in Colaiste Muire le Tigheas, Cathal Brugha Street, and to make available the services of professors on their staff who are highly skilled in these subjects. From preliminary discussions between officers of the Committee and the Department it has been ascertained that the course could be specially framed framed to suit the actual conditions existing in the schools. It would deal with the fundamentals of institutional cookery as applied to industrial school needs. Practical training in essential {processes} and dishes would be given and particular attention would be paid to methods of serving large quantities of food. There would also be lectures on the economic planning of menus in accordance with dietetic needs, on costing, storage, and preparation of foodstuffs. In addition, the Department's Medical Inspector would avail of the opportunity to give some lectures on balance in diet, hygiene, etc,. The course should last for four weeks.
Having regard to the background out of which this proposal emerges - persistent pressure by the Department on the schools to spend more money on food and constant complaints from the schools that they cannot afford to do so - it will be clear that the course must not involve the schools in any expense if there is to be a reasonable prospect of securing their co-operation. It is proposed to make a grant of 9 (nine pounds) towards the expenses of each nun from a school outside Dublin City who attends the course - 2 pounds for travelling expenses, 6 pounds for four weeks hostel expenses in Dublin, and 1 pound for materials and part maintenance (they will eat meals they prepare). Nuns from Dublin City schools would receive the grant of 1 pound only.
The estimated cost of the course is as follows:
Instruction:
1 Teacher at 40 pounds = 40 pounds
2 Asst. Teachers at 30 pounds each = 60 pounds
Attendants and rent = 15 pounds
Travelling and subsistence
Say 50 nuns at 9 pounds each= 450 pounds
Total: 565 pounds
The figure might be rounded up to 600 pounds to cover the possibility of a greater attendance than now anticipated. This amount could be provided in a new subhead B1 in Vote 50 entitled "Summer course in institutional management for members of communities conducting industrial and reformatory schools for girls"
I am to request the sanction of the Minister for Finance for the conduct of this course and the inclusion of provision accordingly in Vote 50 for 1945/46
Leas Runai
Runai,
Roinn Airgeadais
I am directed by the Minister for Education to inform you that he is gravely concerned at the evidence which has been reaching him for a considerable time of the malnutrition of children in industrial schools, particularly those for girls and junior boys. Shortly after her appointment in 1939, the Department's Medical Inspector, Dr. McCabe, set about the task of bringing the dietary in these schools up to such a level that the children would thrive on it and put on weight in a normal way. She revised the diet scales in all schools and advised individual schools on the deficiencies in their dietaries. She introduced a system whereby the resident manager of every school is required to keep a medical chart in respect of each child, upon which, inter alia, the weight and height of the child must be entered each quarter. These charts enable the child's progress in weight to be compared with the normal for its age and height.
These and other measures brought about a marked improvement during the early war years. Unfortunately this has not been maintained and the position for some time past has been serious. The Medical Inspector has stated time and again that the general standard of nutrition is too low. This grave state of affairs is due, to a degree which varies with the circumstances of each individual school, to the following causes:
(1) Inability to provide adequate quantities of food owing to the rise in prices;
(2) Failure to do so owing to parsimony; and
(3) Failure to provide a properly balanced diet (even when the quantity is adequate) owing to lack of training in the management of institutions for children and ignorance of fundamental dietetic principles.
As to (1), the payment of the State capitation grant on all committed children (instead of on the "certified number") and the increase from 5s/ - to 7s/6d per week of the State and local authority grants for children under 6, (both changes took effect as from the 1st July last), have done something to ease the schools' financial position. When pressed to improve diet, however, managers complain continually that they cannot afford to do so, or that they can do so only by economising elsewhere e.g. in clothing. The Association of Managers has applied
for an emergency bonus of 5s/- per week per child. There is no doubt that the schools, particularly the smaller ones and those that have no farms or very small ones, have a case for an emergency increase in their income (in common with every other section of the community) if they are to be compelled to maintain, and in many cases, to improve upon, their pre-war standards of food and clothing.
As to (2), the strongest possible action has been taken in all cases where the Department was satisfied that parsimony was the predominant cause of gross malnutrition. Two resident managers have been removed from office at the request of the Minister for Education. Others have been solemnly warned and will be removed in due course if there is no adequate improvement. (In one such case in Co. Cork the warning was given personally by the Secretary to the Department accompanied by the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools.)
As to (3), this is a contributory cause of malnutrition in all schools, particularly those conducted by nuns, and an effort to eradicate it is an essential part of the general attack on malnutrition. It is proposed to have a course in institutional management and UNREADABLE next summer and to invite the sister or sisters in charge of the catering in each of the 43 schools conducted by nuns to attend. The City of Dublin Vocational Committee will be asked to conduct the course in Colaiste Muire le Tigheas, Cathal Brugha Street, and to make available the services of professors on their staff who are highly skilled in these subjects. From preliminary discussions between officers of the Committee and the Department it has been ascertained that the course could be specially framed framed to suit the actual conditions existing in the schools. It would deal with the fundamentals of institutional cookery as applied to industrial school needs. Practical training in essential {processes} and dishes would be given and particular attention would be paid to methods of serving large quantities of food. There would also be lectures on the economic planning of menus in accordance with dietetic needs, on costing, storage, and preparation of foodstuffs. In addition, the Department's Medical Inspector would avail of the opportunity to give some lectures on balance in diet, hygiene, etc,. The course should last for four weeks.
Having regard to the background out of which this proposal emerges - persistent pressure by the Department on the schools to spend more money on food and constant complaints from the schools that they cannot afford to do so - it will be clear that the course must not involve the schools in any expense if there is to be a reasonable prospect of securing their co-operation. It is proposed to make a grant of 9 (nine pounds) towards the expenses of each nun from a school outside Dublin City who attends the course - 2 pounds for travelling expenses, 6 pounds for four weeks hostel expenses in Dublin, and 1 pound for materials and part maintenance (they will eat meals they prepare). Nuns from Dublin City schools would receive the grant of 1 pound only.
The estimated cost of the course is as follows:
Instruction:
1 Teacher at 40 pounds = 40 pounds
2 Asst. Teachers at 30 pounds each = 60 pounds
Attendants and rent = 15 pounds
Travelling and subsistence
Say 50 nuns at 9 pounds each= 450 pounds
Total: 565 pounds
The figure might be rounded up to 600 pounds to cover the possibility of a greater attendance than now anticipated. This amount could be provided in a new subhead B1 in Vote 50 entitled "Summer course in institutional management for members of communities conducting industrial and reformatory schools for girls"
I am to request the sanction of the Minister for Finance for the conduct of this course and the inclusion of provision accordingly in Vote 50 for 1945/46
Leas Runai
