Child Gulags

Hi All,

There is no censorship on this site, no filtering of comments. The Philosophy I believe in:>

"...no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So post your comments and let the Detention Orders be damned.

One of the catch-cries through communities in the 20's, 30's, 40-'s, 50's and 60's was "Watch Out for the Cruelty Man"

The members of the NSPCC/ISPCC were all Roman Catholic and the Cruelty Men themselves were "the eyes and ears" of the Church in the community. If anyone in the community were to step outside of what the Church thought was right the person was condemned from the pulpit. Only a few years ago a famous Irish athlete was condemned during Sunday mass by the officiating priest for having a child out of wedlock.

The Church's dead hand on the progress of society led many people to emigrate, particularly to England. And from the Institutions many on their release headed straight for the boat.

This UNHOLY TRINITY have a lot to answer for. The Government has gone some way towards healing wounds but the little it has done has been done very grudgingly and in some instances they have taken back.

The Church is STILL in denial, STILL as arrogant as it ever was, STILL trying to control the lives of people, STILL considering itself as the Judge AND Jury of OUR morals. Only this weekend they condemned Registry Office weddings and said that Catholics MUST NOT attend as witnesses. Like I said ARROGANT BASTARDS.

But the NSPCC/ISPCC have got off scot free. They obviously saw ahead what was coming and destroyed their files. But how files from Kerry, Donegal, Kilkenny, Galway, Offaly, Cork, Roscommon, ....... all ended up being burned in a fire in Dublin is beyond me ....... It's a bit of MAGIC just like Judge Curtin's Computer.

THE nspcc/ispcc MUST COME CLEAN ON THIS ISSUE.

---

WHAT THEY DO BEST:[LEGAL TIDBITS FROM THE WEB]

The Christian Brothers have been employing legal stalling tactics and shouldn't comes as surprise to victims of Institutional/sex abuse. The Catholic Church's approach to dealing with allegations of abuse, and that legal stonewalling is a continuing fact of life for victims desperate to take on these religious orders. The Catholic Church and their lawyers have traditionally taken a very hardball approach to litigation, relying on all sorts of technical points. It's very, very rare for negotiations to take place at all.

The Catholic Church/Religious Orders rely upon each unique situation of not being a body corporate, which can be sued. It also relies upon a doctrine, which says it ought not to be held liable for the acts of its servants or agents, that is to say the priests and the clergy. It denies what the lawyers call vicarious responsibility, or vicarious liability, for them. And blaming the victims and suggesting that as children they enticed the priests and the clergy and were themselves to blame if any sexual behaviour took place.

THE KNITTER

 

I remember watching TV in the early 70's when Sister Stan appeared on the screen. It was some report about the great work being done in the Kilkenny area (Kilkenny Social Services ??) by Sister Stan and the sisters of charity. Her face triggered something in me. Well you wouldn't believe the foul-mouthed language that escaped from my mouth. Such filthy language I had never used before (or since) to describe another human being. And yet this lady is able to tell anyone listening that she NEVER worked in any institutions. The early 70's was still very very close to the time I was in those child gulags and my memories of those times was still very fresh. And yet what provoked such a reaction in me?

Is it the sanctimonious nature of these type of people, the "I'm doing God's work so don't dare question me" arrogant pose of them. You know I've seen those big posters as I pass up and down the Dart, the ones about homelessness, they are placed their by FOCUS IRELAND, an organisation which Sister Stan has a link to; One of the posters shows an empty, dirty, filthy doorway and on the wall is a plaque commemorating a homeless person who used to live in that doorway, another poster shows a park bench with a similar kind of plaque. Well it provoked a few questions in me: "What percentage of the homeless, in Ireland and the UK, were previously in the Irish child gulags, and what contribution did those religious orders make in creating and exacerbating the homeless problem in both countries" Sister Stan is going to use her humanitarian award for immigrants......would that be the immigrants who, when they fled the child gulags in Ireland, took the first boat to the UK?

THE KNITTER

SISTER STAN: (speaking of the great value of Celibacy) ""in the context of child care, consecrated virginity adds a dimension far more important and more positive than freedom from the 'distractons' of married and family life. Because of the 'gift' of Celibacy the needs of children whom we receive under our care may be answered in a unique way by the consecrated religious"" Posted (in the hope that she comes to EAT HER OWN WORDS)

SISTER STAN: (referring to nuns engaged in Institutional child care) "These nuns are not isolated but operate within a community of religious. One of the advantages of this is that each member of a community (of nuns) has a responsibility to prevent other members (nuns) becoming neurotic and unchristian through lack of love"

SISTER STAN: (arguing for nuns continuing their work in Institutions) "The child's need for permanence in the person who cares for him/her. The very fact that the religious (nun) is someone whose commitment is for life and that the service which is inherent in her vocation is a life-long, and not a transient one, should give to the children that feeling that the loving care they receive is no passing thing"

i dontent see that on the website?hes dosent allow it at all there not like ud was a discrace against other victims like us- yous are doing the same here

Reply By: Old Ferryhouse Lag(Anonymous User) Posted: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Every child 'tried to run away' from industrial schools Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Every child in industrial schools "tried to run away, or ran away at some stage", a former school manager told the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse yesterday. Father Joe O'Reilly, provincial of the Rosminian congregation and a former manager at St Joseph's industrial school at Ferryhouse, near Clonmel, told the commission's investigation committee that "absconding had always been an issue in every industrial school, in every school to some degree... In my experience every child tried to run away, or ran away at some stage." Boys did so to escape abuse, or because of excessive punishment, being misunderstood, being lonely and homesick, bullying, resentment at being in the school, as a lark, or as a challenge to the system, he said.

Absconding had a "very unsettling effect" and there were times when staff were "truly in danger of losing control of the place". At one time they considered closing down the school for a time, such was the problem. Boys who ran away were "almost universally caught", or returned themselves. Punishment mainly involved "the strap". Boys had their heads shaved for a time, but this was stopped by the school manager. Bed-wetting was an issue "then as now", involving between 20 to 30 per cent of boys. A section of dormitory was reserved for such boys, known as "the sailors' dorm". Other boys resented sleeping near that dormitory and ridiculed colleagues with the bed-wetting problem. He agreed bed-wetting had been treated by school authorities as a discipline problem, for which boys were punished.

He had heard such boys had been made carry wet mattresses on their heads, but believed this was as they brought mattresses to be dried. Drying sheets was "a big issue", with the limited facilities. Previously Father O'Reilly told the committee that on opening, St Joseph's had a licence to accommodate 150 boys. The vast majority stayed six years, before leaving at 16. However, from the 1930s numbers exceeded that, and were over 200 in the 1960s. At any time there were approximately 10 staff, about half of them priests and half of them brothers, with two prefects responsible for keeping discipline. These slept in a room off each of two dormitories. In addition there were four or five lay teachers in the school. Today at St Joseph's 36 boys are cared for by about 60 care workers with an additional 30 staff in auxiliary roles, he said.

The "vast majority" of boys in the school had committed no offence. In 1950, of 182 boys there, just four were sentenced for breaking the law. He felt admission to the school must have been " an absolutely terrifying experience" for "a frightened, trembling child", arriving in the school's dark corridor, usually accompanied by a Garda, to be then "despatched to the main yard where they encountered a huge number of children". About half of the boys came from Dublin, with the rest mainly from Limerick, Cork, Waterford, and Tralee.

Most staff, many with little education and none with training in child care, were from rural backgrounds. "Food was a constant issue," he said, with its quantity and quality remaining a problem until the late 60s. "Most children were hungry in any school in the country at the time." He said the capitation system, whereby schools were paid grants per boy, forced managers to have greater rather than a lesser numbers, and when these dropped it was raised with the Department of Education and with politicians, he said.

From 1940 to 1967, eight Ferryhouse boys died, with death certificates giving reasons ranging from chronic hepatitis, through gastritis, TB, anaemia, to the last death, from meningitis, in 1967.

The Irish Times

As a former detainee from Ferryhouse I'd like to state here that child detainees who wet their beds were punished......

Firstly they were segregated in the Dormitories. Secondly they were given a Special Name: SAILORS. Thirdly they were severely thrashed. Fourthly they were forced to wash their sheets with carbolic soap. Fifth they were separated from the rest of the boys for verbal and psychological humiliation. Sixth they were disallowed from washing themselves forcing them to go around all day smelling of urine - this meant that they received more physical punishments from those who were teachers or workshop managers.

At the farce they call the commission to inquire into child abuse on September 8 2004 the current representative of the child-gaolers from Ferryhouse, stated that boys who wet their beds at night were not punished. He said he asked those older members of his "celbate" organisation whether there were punishments for bed-wetting and they stated that there were no punishments. They are LIARS. Or is what I stated a fantasy?

Another this representative said was that punishments were mostly spontaneous and not formal. That is another lie. Punishments were formal.

You were hit for Belching (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having a hole in your sock (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having a button missing from your shirt (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having a button missing from your trousers (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having a hole in your jumper (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for basically growing out of your shoes (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having dirt in your nails and this after spending the whole day picking spuds or turnips etc. (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having a "tideline" after washing in the morning (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having soiled underwear - one of their obsessions (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for whispering in the chapel (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for walking when you should have been running (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for running when you should have been walking (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for turning left when you should have turned right (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for turning right when you should have turned left (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for not joining your hands in the chapel (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for getting a spelling wrong (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for not standing to attention when a Brother entered the room (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for not knowing your cathechism (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for dropping a stitch in the knitting shop (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having dirty knees after being digging in the fields (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for being dirty after working in the pigsty (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for refusing to play hurling (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for refusing to play gaelic footbal or hurling (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for being insolent - that's when you ask why you are being battered (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for snoring (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having your hands and arms under the blanket at night (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having a runny nose (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having scabies (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for not asking permission to go to the toilet - this involved you having to raise your righ-hand in the air and placing your left hand over your scrotum if you wanted to have a pee or placing your left hand on your anus if you wanted to have a shite (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for reading the Bunty or the Judy comic - these were deemed "corrupting" (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for looking sideways at a Brother or priest (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for making noises at night when you went to the toilet (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for not writing what was on the board when you got to write a letter to your mum or dad (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for scratching your head (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for vomiting during mealtimes (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for vomiting at anytime (this was entered in a book)
You were punished for having nits in your hair (this was entered in a book)
You were punished if you cried for your mum or dad (this was entered in a book)

You were punished for having a broken heart (this was NOT entered in a book).

HEY STAN, HOW ABOUT THIS - BEING TREATED LIKE A HUMAN BEING.

In those times and in those places our jailors singled out certain people for their brand of "religious" invective. On many occasions this fell on a particular ethnic group within our country. Travellers. I remember with horror the treatment meted out to the Wards, the Conners and the Stokes. The nuns had a particularly nasty hatred for Travellers. I'm sure it was to do with their own attitude to their bodies. Whereas the Travellers had no problem with their nakedness during bathtime. The nuns used to be horrified at this, and would beat these little children quite mercilessly in the bath house with switches. The effect this had on the rest of us was to makes us extremely frightened of anyone seeing our bodies. On Sundays the nuns took us for walks outside the gulag.

On occasions we would turn left and walk us up to the outskirts of Kilkenny City, in pairs holding hands all of us being warned to keep our eyes on the ground in front of us, and then turn us around without entering the city. On other occasions we would turn right and take a "walk in the country". On this "country walk" we would sometimes encounter Travellers parked along the road. The nun would warn us of the dire consequences if we dared take a peek at this exotic sight. Of course some of us did and we were walloped. Myself, I thought the Travellers had an ideal life. The aroma of the food was mouth-watering, the sight of the campfire was romantic, their caravans, those old one with the arced roofs, were magic looking. The nun had no problem in shouting vicious insults at the Traveller families at the side of the road, calling them evil, filthy pigs. The Travellers ignored the nun and this made her even madder.

Naturally we would look then as it was plain to us that she was going to "fly off the handle". When she did it was to us that she vented her spleen. So much for "country walks". I remember once "absconding" from that place and heading through the fields towards a Traveller family parked alongside the road. They took me in and fed me. I have never since tasted such fresh bread, or tasty rasher and sausage and their mug of tea was MAGIC. Even I could tell that these people were SPECIAL. They had NO FEAR of the nuns, and they bent the knee to no one but God. They WERE very religious but it seemed to me, and I was only about 8 years old, that their religion was a HAPPY faith. In any event they took me all the way into Kilkenny City where I was hoping to get to my sister, but I was hopelessly lost and some man from a butchers' shop grabbed me and handed me back to the nuns. Later on in another gulag a guy called Ward saved me from a rape and for a time (until he left) I had a protector. This actually taught me the value of family. Because when my brother arrived I tried to protect him.

I learned about HUMANITY from people who these BLACK-GARBED CHRISTIANS NUNS denigrated. I learned more about LOVE and FAMILY and BELONGING from people who were called PIGS by the same BLACK-GARBED NUNS.

Wishing a Health Peaceful New Year to all who post here.

265,000 Euro paid out to abuse victims, says bishop - by Gordon Deegan – Irish Examiner

The Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh confirmed yesterday that the diocese paid out over a quarter of a million euro last year in the compensation for the pas sexual abuse of children by priests. In publishing the diocese’s annual accounts for 2003, Bishop Walsh confirmed that a total of 265,000 euro was paid to two victims of sexual abuse last year.

A spokesman for the diocese is in the process of making a payment to a third victim. He declined to say how much had been paid to each victim, saying the bishop did not wish to comment on individual cases. The vase proportion of the monies paid to the two victims came from a general church trust fund, the Stewardship Trust, established by the Irish Catholic Bishops to cover claims of clerical sex abuse. The accounts show that the trust paid 252,622 euro while the diocese paid 79,981 euro towards the trust in 2003.

According to a spokesman for the diocese, instead of seeking the funding from church members, the diocese’s finance committee has decided that its contribution to the trust should come from the proceeds of the sale of six acres of land at the Bishop’s Ennis residence to Ennis Town Council in 2001 for 1.5 million euro. In 1999, the overall Stewardship Trust fund stood at 10.6m euro and it is not known how much has been paid from the fund to victims since that time. The trust also funds child protection and other victim response initiatives undertaken at national level by the Bishops’ conference. It is understood the two cases of sexual abuse predate Bishop Walsh’s time as bishop and that the clergy involved are deceased.

In a statement accompanying the publication of the accounts, Bishop Walsh said “Over the past years, our church has been darkened by the revelation of the tragedy of serious abuse by a very small number of clergy. It is important that we try to understand and help the victims of such abuse towards healing. The diocese of Killaloe has and will continue to play its role in trying to heal the hurt and wounds of abuse. Some victims from both within and outside the diocese have sought my assistance in journeying towards that place of healing over the years. In helping them on that journey, I have made some finance available from the charitable funds of the diocese towards provision of counseling. In 2003, the diocese’s finance committee approved special financial payments to two victims of abuse”, the bishop said. A spokeswoman for One in Four, a support group for sexual abuse victims said “It is our understanding that Bishop Walsh has attempted to speed up the process of payments as much as he can and our experience is that he has been very positive in this area”.

In a recent interview, Bishop Walsh said he has dealt with possibly six our seven allegations against priests, some of which dated back to the 1050s. The bishop’s spokesman declined to say if any of the payments were made to victims of the late Fr Tom McNamara. Last June, Bishop Walsh traveled to two east Clare parishes to apologise for the abuse perpetrated by Fr McNamara over a 20 year period during the 1070s and 1980s. Tony Muggivan, the foster-father of triple murder Brendan O’Donnell has since claimed that O’Donnell was also a victim of the late priest.

Ireland faces schools' abuse legacy - Elderly victims grew up in church-run facilities - By Glenn Frankel

It's been nearly 60 years, but John Griffin said he still remembers many horrible things about his time at the Baltimore Industrial School here -- the lice-infested bedding and clothing, the smell, the rats, the beatings and the sexual abuse. But what he recalls most vividly is the hunger. "We were starving all the time," said Griffin, now 71, "and we were begging for food. Anything to keep alive."

Baltimore was one of the most brutal of the youth institutions operated by the Roman Catholic Church with Irish government funding throughout much of the 20th century -- places where orphans, children born out of wedlock, those from broken homes and those convicted of crimes were held until they turned 16. The boys sent to this small harbor village on Ireland's south coast were supposed to learn fishery skills. Instead, according to a report released in January by a public commission of inquiry, they were subjected to "appalling conditions and deprivation," including "widespread and pervasive sexual abuse" by adults in positions of authority.

Political ramifications
When tales of persistent abuse at Baltimore and many of the 70 other state-sponsored institutions first emerged five years ago, officials issued long and seemingly heartfelt apologies, promising restitution to the survivors among the estimated 130,000 former residents of the schools, the last of which was closed in the late 1980s. The government established the commission to investigate and report on what seemed a bygone, Dickensian chapter in Ireland's history. But the past is not so easily buried. More than 1,700 former pupils have lodged formal complaints seeking compensation, while the judge who chaired the commission resigned in protest last fall, alleging that the government and the church had failed to cooperate with investigators. Justice Mary Laffoy has refused to comment publicly since stepping down, but her report, released in January, alleged that the department of education "has not adopted a constructive approach to dealing with its role in the inquiry" and that most of the religious orders accused of abuse "have adopted an adversarial, defensive and legalistic approach."

While Laffoy's report adopted a dry, legalistic tone, some of its passages betrayed her sense of frustration that time is running out because so many of the former victims are elderly. "Of what relevance will a report of the commission which is published in 10 years time be?" it asked. Prime Minister Bertie Ahern swiftly appointed a new chairman and pledged renewed cooperation. "My agenda and my only agenda in this is to try to find a way to help these victims," he told the Irish Independent newspaper. But critics argue that despite these sentiments, the government has been too slow to acknowledge the extent of the abuse and too quick to exonerate the church for its role in the scandal. "It's an extraordinary situation now where we need an inquiry into the inquiry," said Colm O'Gorman, director of One in Four, a Dublin-based group that counsels abuse victims.

Coming to terms
John Griffin, a diminutive and soft-spoken man who lives in the nearby town of Skibbereen, said he could understand why it is difficult for Irish society to come to terms with what happened at Baltimore and elsewhere. He himself has spent the greater part of his adulthood seeking to understand it. He was born in Dublin in 1934, the youngest of five children in a family that was split up by the authorities after his father died. John, who was 3, spent eight years in a church-run institution in Dublin, and then was transferred south to Baltimore, far from his remaining family members. That first day, the authorities shaved the heads of the new pupils, leaving only a tuft of long hair at the front. It marked the pupils in case anyone tried to escape. It had another purpose as well -- "to hold you for a beating," said Griffin. He remembers frequent punishments. Those who wet the bed or who were caught stealing food or lying were beaten with a leather strap or cane in front of the other pupils by staff members.

"There were six of them, and they had no pity," he recalled. "They could inflict pain anytime, day or night, but they'd often wait until we were in bed at night. I was fortunate. My mattress had a hole in the middle and I would dive inside and hide. I called it my little submarine." The boys were preyed upon sexually as well, he added. "Three or four did the raping," he said. "The lay staff, not the priests." Besides the physical abuse, hunger was the one constant. Each boy got one slice of bread for breakfast, a thin soup for lunch and dinner. They stole food from garbage bins, raw vegetables and clover from farmers' fields and sour milk from the troughs where cows ate. When fishing boats pulled into the harbor after a two-week voyage, the boys would gather at the pier to beg for leftover scraps of meat and moldy bread. "We were like a pack of wild animals," Griffin said. "If you found a bone, you didn't bury it like a dog, you took it back to your bed and kept it."

Complaints unanswered
When Griffin turned 16, he was released into the custody of a local farmer, and worked for several years as a laborer. He was functionally illiterate but slowly taught himself to read and write. But his letters of complaint to the police and to the education department went unanswered. No one listened, he said, until a broadcast journalist from the state-run RTE network named Mary Raftery contacted him several years ago. "Baltimore was not the worst in terms of abuse," said Raftery, whose three-part television documentary on the industrial schools in 1999 and follow-up book, "Suffer the Little Children," was the first to expose the dimensions of the scandal. "But it was unusual in terms of the filth. The squalor of Baltimore was in a league of its own." Raftery's documentary provoked widespread outrage and helped lead to Ahern's public apology and to expressions of regret from church officials. A typical statement came from the Irish Sisters of Mercy, which had operated several institutions. It apologized unreservedly but claimed its orphanages had been under-funded and understaffed and had coped as best they could. "In these circumstances many sisters have given years of dedicated service," it said. "Notwithstanding these facts, clearly mistakes were made."

While government officials were pledging restitution, the department of education was secretly negotiating with the church, resulting in an agreement two years ago that limited the church's liability to about $140 million. "The church was seen to be putting an enormous effort to get themselves off the hook," Raftery said. "No financial responsibility, no moral responsibility." But the documentary also helped trigger a wave of new groups and organizations founded to represent victims and their families. More journalistic reports and the feature film "The Magdalene Sisters" have helped spread knowledge of what happened at the institutions. The state has helped fund many of the groups, and has also established a counseling service for abuse victims that even critics concede is innovative. One of the most prominent of the groups was Right of Place, based in the southern city of Cork, founded by a dozen survivors of the nearby Upton school. Tony Treacy, one of Right of Place's founders, spent much of his childhood at Upton, where he said he and his fellow pupils were routinely abused. "The state and the church conspired to totally neglect us," he said. "They neglected to educate us, they even neglected to feed us."

Deplorable conditions
The Baltimore school was one of the first ones examined by the Laffoy commission. It heard testimony from Griffin and 20 other former pupils. The life they described, said the report, "was so harsh and deprived by the standards of today as to verge on the unbelievable." It concluded that their accounts were credible. According to the report, the state inspector in charge of monitoring the school gradually realized how deplorable conditions were. "It is easily the worst of all the schools and stands alone for inefficiency, slackness and neglect," wrote Anna McCabe in her 1946 report. Yet the school continued to operate for four more years until the state finally closed it down. Indeed, right up to the end its overseers were seeking to have more pupils sent there to increase its state subsidy. The commission awarded an average of 110,000 euros -- roughly $135,000 -- in compensation to Griffin and other former residents. One of those who testified, Christy Sutton, now 77, said the money was not enough. "I should have gotten three times as much for what we went through," he said. "Every day I was beaten and crippled." John Griffin said he still goes back to Baltimore for an annual reunion with fellow ex-pupils, although each year their numbers decrease. The main hall has been turned into a wing of a hotel. These days it houses a swimming pool. "In my mind I still see it the way it was," Griffin said. "I don't see the swimming pool. I see the dorms upstairs and the rectory and the dirt and filth." Griffin has written an 89-page account of his time there. It is a vivid portrait. Describing how one overseer beat boys who were tardy in leaving their beds on a cold morning, Griffin wrote, "They jumped like fish caught in a net."

On the wall of his modest kitchen in Skibbereen is a grainy black-and-white photograph of a dozen young boys standing outside the school during the winter of 1947. The boys look like black shadows in the snow -- they are wearing shorts, and all of them look painfully thin. Griffin calls them "matchstick boys." "When the prime minister apologized, I felt at last that someone had heard us," he said. "But we can never be compensated. Our innocent lives were taken from us. We were made to suffer for the sins of our parents, and pay we did."

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

KATHY FERGUSON

Child Detainee's Medical History Covering 96 Months
Year	Month	Height		Weight	Record of Illnesses
		Feet	Inches	Lbs
1	Jan				Vaccinated
9	April	3	11.25	49
5	July	3	11.5	47
3	Oct	4	0	49
1	Jan	4	0.25	49	One tooth extracted
9	April	4	1	51
5	July	4	1.25	52
4	Oct	4	1.5	54
1	Jan	4	2.25	58	Cod liver oil. One tooth extracted  …. (not clear?? left the school)...
9	April	4	2.5	56
5	July	4	2.6	56
5	Oct	4	3.25	56
1	Jan	4			One tooth extracted
9	April	4	4.75	64
5	July	4	5.325	65
6	Oct	4	5.75	66
1	Jan	4	4.325	66
9	April	4	6.25	68
5	July	4	7.25	68
7	Oct	4
1	Jan	4	8	70	Cod Liver Oil & Milk Tonic     ….. ….. … … … …
9	April	4	9	72
5	July	4	10.5	73
8	Oct	4	10	74
1	Jan	4	10	76	Cod Liver Oil
9	April	4	10.25	77
5	July	4	10.6	79
9	Oct	4	11.375	80
1	Jan	5	1	86	Mumps
9	April	5	1	87
6	July	5	1.5	94
0	Oct	5	3	98

my sentiments entirely.Thank you for bringing it up,the man gave Ireland to the roman catholic church,Did he make any Decisions ,of his own while in government?

Hi Geraldine

According to John Cooney's Book on McQuaid ..... He let McQuaid write several of the Articles of Ireland's Constitution ..... without any input from anyone and without any debate in Government. And these Articles were inserted into the Constitution exactly as McQuaid wrote them.

The Knitter

PRESS RELEASE


quote:
“State Recognition that many Religious have been falsely accused of child abuse – and deserve support – Charity Status for L.O.V.E”

Let Our Voices Emerge the group set up to “Support all those claiming false allegations of child abuse against them, including the Religious of Integrity” have been granted official charity status (Charity 16036).
Says an exuberant Florence Horsman Hogan – a founder of L.O.V.E, “although many of our members are lay people (Teachers, Doctors, Nurses, farmers etc.), many are from the Religious Orders. We see this as official recognition that many Religious have been falsely accused – and deserve support”

Florence Horsman Hogan **********
Founder and PRO of L.O.V.E
www.voicesemerge.com Charity 16036


As you look more and more into OUR TIMES in THOSE PLACES the DIMENSIONS EXPAND. What was so UNIQUE about IRELAND that it could produce a CHILD DETENTION system so DEPRAVED and SO EXPORTABLE?

Why is it that when you HEAR and READ of ABOMINATIONS against CHILDREN you discover an IRISH RELIGIOUS ORDER.? Go through the archives of any NEWSPAPER in the ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD and this FACT will HIT you. AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, CANADA, the USA, the UK and our DEAR LITTLE ISLAND.

In any ENTERPRISE that PURPORTS to ENHANCE the COMMON GOOD there are CHECKS and BALANCES yet this was SINGULARLY LACKING in OUR SITUATIONS. It was as if they locked us up and threw away the key. Nominally there was OVERSIGHT but it deliberately remained BLIND to our SUFFERINGS. It gave a BLANK CARD to THESE religious ORDERS to exploit us to, and beyond, OUR LIMITS. Is there something in the Irish Psyche that tolerates WHAT WE KNOW HAPPENED?

There is NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the Irish Psyche that tolerates ABOMINATIONS against the MOST HELPLESS.

What we had in Ireland was corrupt religious leaders blinded by their power and might. Their ambition was to gain in prestige and wealth for their organisation: The Roman Catholic Church is BY FAR the LARGEST landowner on THIS island, the WEALTHIEST organisation on THIS island; So their AMBITION has been STUNNINGLY SUCCESSFUL.

With all such successful enterprises there is a DARK SIDE to this SUCCESS - a price has been paid.

CHILDREN HAVE BEEN RIPPED FROM THEIR KITH AND KIN AND ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY
CHILDREN HAVE BEEN THE VICTIMS OF APPALLING AND DESTRUCTIVE VIOLENCE
CHILDREN HAVE DIED WITHOUT ANY PROPER INQUIRY
CHILDREN HAVE BEEN USED AS FORCED LABOUR
CHILDREN HAVE BEEN CRIMINALISED
CHILDREN HAVE BEEN RAPED
This PRICE is still being PAID by SURVIVORS

Yet the ORGANISATIONS RESPONSIBLE for these CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN CONTINUE to DEMAND RESPECT from people. Indeed they ACT as if THESE CRIMES were very few AND far between - they issue CYNICAL APOLOGIES - they belittle ADVOCATES for SURVIVORS AND VICTIMS - they secretly ENCOURAGE APOLOGISTS and REVISIONIST to tell OUTRAGEOUS LIES about ROMAN CATHOLIC-MANAGED Child Detention Centres.

These maddeningly CRIMINAL organisations may ACTUALLY believe they are WINNING the BATTLE against SURVIVORS AND VICTIMS ........ but let me tell you something you BLACK-HEARTED BASTARDS:- YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST!

Just want to say to you:- KEEP DIGGING - because I DON'T GIVE A FIDDLER'S FUCK how deep you DIG YOUR HOLE, HELL WAITS FOR YOU - - - - FOR GOOD and FOR EVER.
 

SISTER of MERCY TO TESTIFY

THE biggest religious order in the country, the Sisters of Mercy, will testify for the first time about life in one of their industrial schools when representatives of the congregation appear before the Commission on Child Abuse today. The public hearings will focus on Our Lady of Succour Industrial School, Newtownforbes, Co Longford. The Commission has been conducting both private and public hearings about life in individual residential institutions since last year.

Newtownforbes will be the first institution run by a female religious order to come before the Commission which was set up by the Government to establish the sort of regime that existed in these institutions. In 2002 the Commission, under previous chairperson, Justice Mary Laffoy, angered victim groups when it advertised for those who had positive memory
of their time in Newtownforbes to testify to it.

A Mercy Sister-run orphanage, Goldenbridge, was the first of its kind to be brought to national attention through the 1996 RTE drama/documentary, 'Dear Daughter', which caused a national outcry and helped to lead to the setting up of the Ryan Commission. The Mercy Sisters ran 27 units housing more than 2,500 children in the middle of the last century. In 1971 they were still in charge of 16 Industrial schools but the number of children in the schools had dropped dramatically to 576. Last year the order issued a well-received apology to victims for abuse suffered while in their care.

The apology said to victims: "We have in the past publicly apologised to you. We know that you heard our apology then as conditional and less than complete. Now, without reservation, we apologise to each and every one of you for the suffering we have caused."

However, although the congregation acknowledges that abuse did take place it has found no evidence of such abuse in its files.

David Quinn

I was amazed at the way the religious snipers have attacked Mick Waters on this site, once again it shows the type of snides that they are. The Holy Joe's attack this person about his approach to Abusers of children in the Institutes. While they go on about this man they fail to accept the abuses that was inflicted on this person as a young child suffered in Artane and which he was brave enough to go public about. In all these morons qoutations from newspaper articles they missed Mick's sufferings. You religous freaks failed will pay for your spin very soon, Why? Because Ultimate Disposal.Com is on its way back. So Rory, P'O, Rivers(The Tritity) and the FHH(jOAN Of Arc) will rue the day you choose to make these unwise statements. By the way Rory you have not come back on Father Carney or you side kicks Br.Able and Br, Gordon and what about your little club "Bumblebee"????????????????????????????????????. Martin - ex pupil.

Dear Reverend Mother,

 

I am writing to tell you how very disappointed I was at finding such a lack of supervision in your school during my recent medical examination. I cannot find any excuse which would exonerate you and your staff from the verminous condition of several of the children's head. Then 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, and you being responsible for the care of these children will have some difficulty in avoiding censure.

The neglect of supervision and individual attention is, in my opinion, the reason for the dirty condition of the heads and the untreated abscesses I discovered in the child in the infirmary. Immediate steps will have to be taken to remedy these obvious defects in the school organisation and in this UNREADABLE I would suggest an increase in the staff of the religious, with stricter supervision.

I regret the necessity of this letter and will expect to see a marked and substantial improvement when the school is next inspected, otherwise I will be reluctantly compelled to take the matter further.

Yours Sincerely,.

 

______________________

Dr. Anna McCabe.

P.S. I did not draw attention before to the unsatisfactory fire precautions."

Brother Coleman, An alleged sexual abuser who was in Artane and other Industrial Schools in Ireland - North and South was found hiding in Northern Ireland in a retirement home for Christian Bros. When the police came for him the Christian Bros had transfered him to Dublin. Now the police in Northern Ireland are having him extradited back. This is to let all Survivors know that this is what the Christian Bros are doing and this is not the first time is it Bros?. My! My! My! was this Bro not brought before the Redress Board by Barney O' Connell? or is Barney misleading Survivors? " Liberty Boy"

Official Letter Condemns Religious Orders

 

 

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

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The Knitter Comments

We are being asked to participate in a farce with the revelation of this letter by the Department for Education.  The Department are asking us to believe that they, in the person of Dr. McCabe, were concerned about our welfare. In particular our nutrition.  But the Department FAILS to mention that most of the religious orders "managing" the Institutions were ALREADY MANAGING, very successfully too, SECONDARY SCHOOLS and BOARDING SCHOOLS. Why the fuck would these religious orders need a course in Institutional Management and Catering?  What EXACTLY about the CARE OF CHILDREN and  THE NUTRITIONAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN did these religious orders NOT UNDERSTAND - hadn't these religious orders been looking after the needs of children in their SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND BOARDING SCHOOLS since before the foundation of the State?  Why were NO QUESTIONS on this matter ASKED of the representative of the Sisters of Mercy during her recent "CHAT" at the RYAN "investigation"? 

It now appears that the "Ryan Commission" have told Survivors that they can give evidence on St Patricks - Killkenny if they want as this is a chance to speak of their childhood spent in this place. This CLOWN has told Survivors that they will not be called to give evidence with regards to other Institutes that they were in, as a Survivor can not appear at the Commission twice. Who does this person think he is fooling because under Irish Law and Irish Constitution a person age ten or under can not give evidence to any tribunals or bodies set up to investigate or to carry out an inquiry. So any evidence given at such hearings can be dismissed on these grounds and also this is the reason that they would never listen to us as children as to the abuses that we were made to suffer as children in these places. The law is an ass and so is this JudgrRyan fellow. Be warned that some solicitors are trying to encourage Survivors to attend this "Comedy Show" in order to make money out of us. Survivors from St.Patricks are been asked to attend this Laugh-in on Feb 5th 2005 in Dublin. Why are the Commission putting Goldenbridge and Artane on the back burner? The deaths of a young girl in Goldenbridge and the death of Patsy Flannagan in Artane are the reason why. Liberty Boy

I have just "retrieved" a document relating to St. Patrick's in Kilkenny [a sisters of charity gulag] and it contains the names and dates of "admissions" and "discharges" to and from the gulag in one year (1957/58) and in that time, sadly, only one child was released to his mother. Only One Child Went Home.