Origins of Irish Industrial Schools, 1858-1922

For today’s post, I will analyse the origins of reformatory schools in Ireland during the nineteenth century.

According to Coolahan (Irish Education: Its History and Structure, p.191), until the mid-nineteenth century in Ireland, the only provision for orphaned and neglected children was in workhouses and some religious organisations cared for young offenders. In 1858, the Reformatory Schools Act 1858 was introduced. This Act allowed for the certification of “existing voluntary institutions as reformatory schools suitable for “youthful offenders” that were over the age of twelve and committed by the courts” (Ibid: 191). O’ Mahony (Criminal Justice in Ireland, p.200) states that the first Irish reformatory school was founded in Dublin in 1859, while the first industrial school was established in 1869. Industrial schools were designed to care for abandoned, neglected and orphaned children. By 1870, the number of reformatory schools declined and some were reclassified as industrial schools (Ibid). Moreover, industrial schools were financed by capitation grants from the government and managed by religious orders. They were often operated on the same premises as Magdalan asylums and other institutions ran by the same order.

The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (section, 2.09) maintains that in 1882, about 70% of the children entered industrial schools were under the category of begging. Ferriter (The Transformation of Ireland, 1900-2000, p.49) states that between 1869 and 1913, 48,664 children were admitted to industrial schools. Under the Act, these types of institutions would be inspected on an annual basis and local authorities had the power to remove children from their homes. Under the 1908 Children Act, the institutions were required to provide practical training to enable children to enter the workforce upon their release. Domestic service was the most common type of training girls received in industrial schools while boys were taught how to farm and tailor clothing (Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, section 2.06).

Arnold and Laskey (Children of the Poor Clares: The Collusion between Church and state that Betrayed Thousands of Children in Ireland’s industrial schools, p.xx) argues that poverty and economic depressions were the main reasons for the detention of children in industrial schools at the start of the twentieth century. Due to the stigma associated with unmarried motherhood, many illegitimate children were sent to industrial schools as their mothers were deemed ‘unfit’ to care for them. O’ Sullivan et al (2012: 214) maintain that children committed to industrial homes included “children who have lost one or both parents”, parents that are unable” to care for them because of poverty, children of broken up families by “desertion or imprisonment of one parent” and children who have “no fixed abode”. The 1908 Act also ensured that children considered vulnerable to ‘bad’ influences, for example, children living with a thief of prostitute, were committed to industrial schools.

Separate industrial schools were operated for Catholic and non-Catholic children. After 1922, industrial schools and reformatory schools were managed by the State and religious orders. Charitable organisations such as St Vicenti de Paul and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children investigated cases and distributed financial aid to poor families. Rafferty and O’Sullivan l (Suffer the Little Children: The inside Story of Ireland’s industrial schools, p.11) argue that the industrial school system was based on myths which justified its existence, for example, there was a belief that only religious run industrial schools would care for orphaned children as “no one else would”. However, they were funded and inspected by the State. The Irish Free State asserted further control over Irish children when the 1937 Constitution stated that if the parents fail to provide religious, intellectual and physical education to their children, the State could intervene (Madden, Medicine, Ethics and Law in Ireland, p.480).

The full authority of industrial, schools was gradually transferred to religious orders after 1922. There was a large degree of shame and stigma associated with them as they were not distinguished from reformatory schools by Irish society. From the 1990s, allegations of child abuse within these institutions began to emerge. Documentaries and books, such as Mary Rafferty’s States of Fear, were aired which marred the perception of these institutions as stigmatising and punitive. On the 11^th May 1999, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, apologised ‘on behalf of the State and its citizens… to the victims of childhood abuse for our collective failure to intervene to detect, pain, to come to their rescue’. It was not until the introduction of 1991, that the 1908 legislation was replaced by the Child Care Act. Breathnach (Crime and Punishment in Twentieth Century Ireland: A Description of the Criminal Justice System, 1950-1980, p.142) states that ‘clerical culpability was never required by the clerically-run state’

Bibliography

Arnold, Mavis and, Heather, Laskey, Children of the Poor Clares: The Collusion between Church and state that Betrayed Thousands of Children in Ireland’s industrial schools, Trafford, Indiana, 2012.

Breathnach, Seamus, Crime and Punishment in Twentieth Century Ireland: A Description of the Criminal Justice System, 1950-1980, Universal Publishers, USA, 1981.

Children Act (1908), Available at www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga//Edw7/8/67//contents/enacted

Commission to inquire into Child Abuse (2009), Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Volume 1-5. Available at www.childabusecommission.ie

Coolahan, John, Irish Education: Its History and Structure, Institute of Public Administration, Dublin, 1981.

Ferriter, Diarmaid, The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000, Profile Books, London, 2005.

Madden, Deirdre, Medicine, Ethics and Law in Ireland, Bloomsbury Professional, Dublin, 2011.

O’ Mahony, Paul, Criminal Justice In Ireland, Institute of Public Administration, Dublin, 2002.

O’ Sullivan, Eoin and, O’ Donnell, Ian, Coercive Confinement in Ireland: Patients, Prisoners and Penitents, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2012.

Rafferty, Mary and, O’ Sullivan, Eoin, Suffer the Little Children: The inside Story of Ireland’s industrial schools, Continuum, London, 1999.

The Foundation of Deaf Institutions in Ireland and the Debate Between Oralism and Manualism, 1778-1900

For today’s post, I will analyse the establishment of deaf institutions Ireland and the debate between oralism (lip-reading) and manualism (sign language) as the best method to educate the deaf. There were three deaf institutions in Ireland: Claremont in Glasnevin, Dublin, St. Mary’s School for Deaf Girls in Cabra, Dublin and St. Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys in Cabra.

In the eighteenth century, deafness was viewed as an “a chastisement from above upon the parents” (Pritchard, Education and the Handicapped, 1760-1960, p.2). Mathews ‘Mainstreaming of Deaf Education In the Republic of Ireland: Language, Power, Resistance’, p.1) argues that deafness has many causes: including variation on a chromosome carried by both parents, “a mechanical obstruction in their middle ear”, an “auditory nerve may not function”, or trauma experienced at birth, exposure to medication harming aural faculties, or viral or bacterial infection impairing hearing. The first signing school was founded in France by Charles Michel Epee while Samuel Heinicke established the first oral school in Germany in 1778 (Crean, Breaking the Silence: The Education of the Deaf in Ireland, 1816-1996, p.12). These types of specialist institutions charged expensive fees, restricting them to the upper and middle classes. The provision of services in Ireland lagged behind international developments, but only slightly. Mathews (‘Mainstreaming Deaf Education’, p.122) notes that before the 1800s, the deaf were dealt with by industrial schools, asylums, and penitentiaries. However, in 1814, Dr Charles Orpen set up a school for the deaf in Smithfield penitentiary in Dublin (which moved to Claremont in 1816) (Susanne Mohr, Mouth Actions in Sign Language: An Empirical Study of Irish Sign Language, p.9).

According to Pollard (The Avenue: A History of the Claremont Institution p.78), a deaf child was educated for 4 to 5 years and pupils older than 12 were not admitted. Therefore, deaf adults and teenagers were excluded from this provision, remaining uneducated. However, as with all aspects of education, and most aspects of health, provision for the deaf was denominational, and the nineteenth century witnessed a growth of Catholic institutions. Father Thomas McNamara was concerned that there were no educational facilities for Irish Catholic deaf children (Terri Broderick and Regina Duggan, Origins and Developments of St. Mary’s School for Deaf, p.16). The Catholic Church supported separate education for boys and girls. Broderick and Duggan note that Fr McNamara and the Catholic archbishop of Dublin, Dr Daniel Murray approached the Dominican Convent of Cabra to undertake the education of deaf girls (Broderick and Duggan, St. Mary’s, p.15). A Committee, later known as the Catholic Institute of the Deaf, was set up in 1846 to fund raise for deaf schools (Ibid, p.166). Accordingly, St. Mary’s School for Deaf Girls was established in Cabra in 1846 and St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys was established under the management of the Christian Brothers, in Cabra, in 1857 (Crean, Breaking the Silence, p.40). The Catholic Institutions introduced sign language while the Protestant institution embraced the oralist method.

In 1880, the Teacher’s Congress for the Deaf was held in Milan. It further divided deaf institutions in Ireland and abroad as it heralded oralism as the best method to educate the deaf. Mohr (Mouth Actions, p.11) states that as a result, “sign language was banned from all schools across Europe” and was replaced by the oral teaching method. In July 1885, the Conference of Headmasters called for State aid for the deaf and the Government appointed a Royal Commission in response (Pritchard, Education, p.95)^.In 1889, The Royal Commission on the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, Blind and Imbeciles also preferred the oral method. However, there were no deaf people on the commission and Archbishop Walsh, Chairman of the CID, complained that there were also no Irish or Catholic persons on the Commission (Crean, Breaking the Silence, p.35). The Catholic Church were opposed to government interference in traditionally controlled aspects of health and social provision and they also supported the manual method.

In 1893, the Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act was introduced. It introduced the segregation of the sexes and of signers and those who spoke and lip-read in schools (Leeson and Lynch, ‘Three Leaps of Faith and Four Giant Steps: Developing Interpreter Training in Ireland’ in J. Napier (ed.), Signed Language Interpreter Education and Training: A World Survey, p.3). According to Pollard (The Avenue, p.66), after 1894, “almost all deaf children were sent to school”. Mathews acknowledges that government polices favoured the oralist approach in the early twentieth century (Mathews, ‘Mainstreaming of Deaf Education’, p.124).

Oralism was established in Protestant deaf schools in Ireland in 1918 (Mohr, Mouth Actions, 11). Crean (Breaking the Silence, p.35) argues that because of the political upheaval in Ireland after 1922, the education of the deaf in Ireland was a “combination of religious and political establishments”. Religious orders were repsonsible for the care for the sick and poor in Ireland from the nineteenth century. In 1922, when the Irish Free State was founded, the Catholic Church re-asserted their powerful position in Irish society. The culture of secrecy surrounding disability such as deafness, continued as children were hidden in large, isolated institutions or at home. The outbreak of the Second World War allowed for technological advances such including hearing aids which significantly changed the lives of deaf children and adults. The Catholic institutions maintained manualism as the preferred method until the 1950s. However, the failures of oralism were recognised during th1 1960s, allowing for the combination of the two methods as the best method to educate the deaf. The Irish government also introduced policies which allowed for the mainstreaming of deaf children into ‘ordinary’ Irish schools.

Bibliography

Broderick, Terri and Regina Duggan, Origins and Developments of St. Mary’s School for Deaf Girls, Cabra, St. Mary’s School for Deaf Girls, Dublin, 1996.

Crean, Edward J, Breaking the Silence: The Education of the Deaf in Ireland, 1816-1996, Irish Deaf Society Publications,Dublin, 1997.

Leeson, Lorraine and Theresa Lynch, ‘Three Leaps of Faith and Four Giant Steps: Developing Interpreter Training in Ireland’ in J. Napier (ed.), Signed Language Interpreter Education and Training: A World Survey, Gallaudet University Press, Washington D.C.,2009.

Mathews, Elizabeth S., ‘Mainstreaming of Deaf Education in the Republic of Ireland: Language, Power, Resistance’. PhD Thesis, NUI Maynooth, 2011.

Mohr, Susanne, Mouth Actions in Sign Language: An Empirical Study of Irish Sign Language, Ishara Press, Preston UK, 2014.

Pollard, Rachel, The Avenue: A History of the Claremont Institution, Denzille Press, Dublin, 2006.

Pritchard, D. G., Education and the Handicapped, 1760-1960, Routledge and Keegan Paul, London, 1963. nt 3;\l

My First Experience of Presenting at a Conference: The Irish History Student’s Association 69th Annual Conference

For today’s post, I will discuss my experience of presenting a paper at a conference for the first time at the Irish History Student’s Association Annual Conference at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.

During the 1950s, the IHSA conference was established in the 1950s by representatives from Irish universities. I was delighted when my abstract on ‘Public health nurses and the expansion of maternal and infant provision, 1922-1960’ was accepted by the organisers of the IHSA. They consistently sent out emails regarding the programme, direction to the campus and other important information leading up to the conference. The conference was held on the 1^st – 3^rd March 2019 at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. I was chosen to present on the 14^th panel on ‘20^th Century health and body histories’ at 3:30pm on 2^nd March alongside two other speakers.

I felt enthusiastic and a tad nervous to present a paper for the first time at a history conference. My only experience with public speaking had included classroom presentations in front of fellow students and friends as well as a year’s experience of debating during my time at secondary school. However, I constantly reminded myself that I was overly familiar with my research and that I had rehearsed my presentation at least five times at home. I was also looking forward to meeting other researchers with similar interests in maternal and child welfare in Ireland. I was especially excited to meet the chair of my panel, Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley, whom had undertaken research on the NSPCC and child welfare in the Irish Free State during the twentieth century.

However, due to the fact that I was travelling from Cork to Limerick I was unable to attend the Keynote address by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer (UCD) on Friday, 1^st March. The organisers of the conference were very welcoming and kind as were all the other speakers I met on the day. They offered me advice on public speaking and gave me directions to the room I was presenting in. I felt relaxed and at ease while I presented my paper and was asked numerous questions at the end of my panel. I also had the opportunity to meet Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley whom was very friendly and interested in all the speakers’ papers.

Overall, it was an incredibly positive experience as I made new friends and researchers with similar interests to myself. The IHSA’s conference offers a great opportunity in a supportive and friendly environment for anyone interested in presenting for the first time. ffffff

Health Visitation and Maternity and Child Welfare Centres: the Expansion of Maternal and Infant Provision, 1915-1930

In 1900, maternal mortality rates were high in Ireland due to numerous factors. The only provision available to mothers was through the dispensary midwife from the local dispensary and voluntary nursing associations such as Lady Dudley’s nurses. Moreover, most women did not give birth in hospital and relied on a handywoman, an untrained midwife, to assist with childbirth. This practise often resulted in the spread of infection to the new mother. According to the 37th Annual Report of the Registrar General, 6.4 per 1,000 women died in birth from puerperal fever or other diseases linked to parturition in 1900.

At the start of the twentieth century infant mortality rates were extremely high due to the spread of infectious diseases such as diphtheria, pneumonia, gastro-enteritis and tuberculosis. In 1900, the Registrar General’s report stated that 38 per 1,000 children under five years of age died. According to Joe Robin’s Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland in the twentieth century: fifty years of an Bord Altranais (the Nursing Board) 1950-2000, the high infant mortality rate was influenced by various socio-economic factors including a lack of nutrition and an unclean living environment. Poor mothers were not educated on sanitation, nutrition, breastfeeding and infant illnesses. However, independent initiatives were established by middle class women such as the Women’s National Health Association in 1907 to reduce the high infant and maternal mortality rates in Ireland and to educate mothers on breastfeeding and cleanliness.

In 1907, the Notification of Births Act was passed, however, it did not make the notification of births compulsory. Under the 1915 Notification of Births (Extension) Act, health visitation was introduced for new and nursing mothers and children under the age of five. The Local Government Board was made responsible for the establishment of Maternity and child welfare centres and for the distribution of food to mothers and young children. However, the act only applied to urban areas.

In 1918, the Maternity and Child Welfare Act was passed, requiring local authorities to ensure provision for nursing and expectant mothers and children under five including health visitation, maternity and child welfare centres and free food and milk to poor mothers and young children. Nurses from voluntary nursing associations were mainly employed by local health authorities to undertake the health visitation service. It sought to educate mothers on nutrition and breastfeeding, thus helping to eradicate the ignorance of mothers about childbirth and babies. Significantly, in 1918, the Central Midwives Board was set up and a register of trained midwives was introduced to ensure that the practise of handywoman was discontinued. A register for general nurses was also introduced under the 1919 Nurses Registration Act.

During the 1920s, health services such as hospitals were co-ordinated. In 1923, a County Medical Officer was appointed to manage county health schemes including maternal and infant health services. Health visitors were appointed to work in the maternity and child welfare centres in county boroughs with high infant mortality rates including Dublin and Cork. They educated the expectant or nursing mother on childbirth and dangers of handywomen. The DLGPH’s Report 1922-1925 stated that ‘the ultimately the remedy lies in the gradual enlightenment of expectant mothers with regard to risks involved’. The Irish Nurse’s Union Gazette advised that the public health nurse to teach mothers through physical instruction rather than an explanation, for example, ‘by boiling the water we are going to use we can demonstrate the principle of sterilisation’. However, health visitation continued to be the only provision available to women in rural areas.

The high infant mortality rates encouraged the growth of the schemes in other counties and county boroughs. According to Report of the Commission on the Relief of the Sick and Destitute Poor Including the Insane Poor appointed 19^th March 1925, by 1925, there were 93 Maternity and Child Welfare schemes in operation throughout the country. The maternity and child welfare centres were funded by the Irish government. They funded half the costs of the voluntary nurses working under the Maternity and Child welfare schemes while the remainder was paid by local rates. It was mainly voluntary nurses that operated the maternity and child welfare schemes. Ruth Barrington’s Health, Medicine & Politics in Ireland, 1900-1970 maintained that in 1927, the first child welfare centre was set up in Lord Edward Street, Dublin, providing health education to mothers and public health nurses could refer patients for specialist treatment. Specialist treatment included treatment for medical conditions including rickets.

By 1930, the notification of births began in urban districts in countiessuch as Donegal. The voluntary nurses managed more maternity and child welfarecentres than district nurses employed by local authorities. According to the DLGPH’s Report 1930-31, health visits were carried out to 18,379 mothers and 33,930 children and 37,914 mothers in their homes. The Maternity and Child Welfare Schemes also provided free milk to poor mothers and infants. The DLGPH’s report 1930-1931stated that a Maternity and Child Welfare Centre opened at Tukey Street, Cork in 1931. Lindsey Earner-Byrne’s Mother and Child: Maternity and Child Welfare in Dublin, 1922-60 argues that Maternity and Child Welfare Schemes in urban areas including Dublin, Limerick and Cork were co-ordinated with the maternity hospitals, facilitating the development of ante-natal services.

Significantly, the 1915 Notification of Births (Extension) Act was the first attempt by the British government to establish provision for mothers and infants in Ireland. Importantly, the Nurses Registration Act 1919 and the Midwives (Ireland) Act 1918 marked the beginning of the decline of untrained handywomen and nurses. Maternal and infant provision was reinforced by the County Medical Officer whom oversaw their gradual introduction into county boroughs. By 1930,numerous maternity and child welfare centres were established and the number of health visits undertaken by nurses increased. They offered an ante-natal service to expectant mothers and the provision of food and milk for poor mothers and children under 5 helped to reduce medical conditions linked to malnourishment.

Tips for Writing a History Dissertation

For today’s post, I am keen to offer my top ten tips for writing and researching a history dissertation. In September 2018, completed my Masters in History at University College Cork. My masters programme was spread over the course of one year in which I was required to write a 20,000 word dissertation. Since I studied history as part of my Bachelor’s Degree in Arts, I became fascinated with the history of healthcare in modern Ireland, in particular in relation to provision for women and children during the twentieth century. Despite various topic changes, I settled on examining the role of the public health nurse in maternal and infant provision and the School Medical Service, 1919-1979. Fortunately, I received a First Class Honours in my dissertation and for my overall grade at the end of the year and consequently, I would like to share some useful advice and tips that I learned throughout my experience of writing a history dissertation.

Firstly, it’s important to allow for your topic to change or alter while you are researching your topic. This naturally happens as you may come across an idea which may appeal more to your taste or you may find that your original idea may have been previously researched. You start researching by reading academic secondary sources that are related to your topic and taking note of these books and journal articles as you sift through new material.

Next, you can expand to examining primary material such as governmental reports and documents and you will become aware that you may need to visit some archives to view certain reports of material. for my research, I needed to view archives by An Bord Altranais held in UCD Archives for which I was required to provide ethical approval as I had access to sensitive personal information, for example nurses registers. Therefore, you need to ensure you have booked an appointment to view archives in the library before you make the trip.

It’s also important to point out that you should not worry about what stage of researching or writing other students in your class are at as everyone has a pace that is right for them. Talk to your dissertation supervisor or the Masters co-ordinator about how much research you should aim to complete within a given time and set deadlines to hand up your draft chapters to your supervisor. I promise that this will help you to avoid deviating from doing your research and help to ensure that you are consistently writing and editing your work.

The easiest method of approaching your dissertation is to focus on one chapter or section of your dissertation at a time. You should also negotiate deadlines for these chapters and sections of your dissertation with your supervisor which will ensure you maintain focus and progress with your work as it is easy to become immersed in one chapter and neglect the following sections. I would also recommend starting your chapters before writing the introduction as you cannot be certain of each chapter’s outline until you have researched each chapter which will inevitably alter.

Please ensure that you have edited your work at least four times before you submit any drafts to your supervisor as the more time and effort you put into your work the higher the grade you will receive at the end of the year. Fundamentally, do not be afraid to ask for clarification on any corrections you supervisor provides you with. They are appointed to advise and support you.

Take a break between writing chapters as you will have a clear head and feel refreshed when you begin a new chapter (I usually took a week or two as I had the summer months to write my dissertation).

Proof-reading is an essential part of editing so when you have read over your completed chapters and sections hundreds of times ask a friend or family member to read your work. They will be more likely to notice any spelling or grammar mistakes with a fresh pair of eyes.

It may also be helpful to get your dissertation copies bound a few days before the submission date to allow for unforeseen delays. You should read the History Department’s submission instructions to double-check that you have the correct font size and number of copies etc.

Lastly, enjoy your experience of undertaking a masters as you will meet new friends with similar interests to yourself and become more confident with researching.