Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
People living in illegal cabins - including family forced to dismantle home - tell their stories
Pope Francis had 'peaceful' night in hospital, Vatican says
One dead and several police officers wounded in 'Islamist' knife attack in France
Irish author Brendan Behan wrote about his experiences in an English borstal - St Patrick's was also originally based on this penal model. Borstal Boy film via IMDB
borstal boys
"Your borstal is a disgrace": A grim century of St Pat's
St Patrick’s Institution started in Co Tipperary – and was once condemned by Fr Edward Flanagan of ‘Boys’ Town’ fame.
Yes, you read that correctly. While the language of penology changes over the decades, St Patrick’s was indeed a borstal and that is how it began life in south Tipperary in 1906.
Perceptions of St Patrick’s have evolved over the years and the institution and its inmates have quite often been the victims of a distorted public image. Most Irish people, however, will have forgotten how it all began.
We must go back to late-19th century Britain to explore the origins of the concept that led to St Patrick’s. One of the central recommendations of an 1895 British parliamentary investigation into the prison system was the establishment of a penal reformatory to punish and reform the high volume of habitual young male offenders.
In 1901, following several years of consultation, an experimental institution was established when a handful of male criminals between the ages of 16 and 21 years were held in a separate wing of a local prison in a village in Kent. The name of that village was Borstal and that experiment marked the beginning of one of the most enlightened – for its time – yet ultimately controversial, penal initiatives of the twentieth century.
Young inmates in an early borstal at Feltham, London, as the penal institution went widespread across the UK and over to Tipperary. PA Archive
PA Archive
Having been deemed an early success in Kent, the ‘borstal’ system, as it was now known, was extended to Ireland where it was opened in May 1906 as a separate wing of the existing local prison in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
For four years the inmates were detained in separation from the adult prisoners and in 1910 the latter were transferred elsewhere and the complex was fully converted into Ireland’s first and, for 50 years, only borstal institution.
The system was not intended for first offenders but for those who were already on the path to habitual criminality. With a strong emphasis on education, training, physical drill and moral guidance, borstal was not for the faint of heart or body.
From England to Clonmel
Between 1906 and 1921, a quarter of all inmates originated from Dublin and another quarter from Belfast. An institution was established in Belfast in 1926. Most of those in Clonmel were detained for offences including larceny, house-breaking, animal theft, assault and a low number for sexual crimes.
Clonmel borstal enjoyed mixed fortunes as the decades progressed, its greatest challenges coming from a continued lack of proper infrastructural investment from government. In 1922 as the civil war took hold in Ireland the institution was commandeered for military purposes and the boys were moved farther south in Tipperary to Clogheen workhouse.
They were subsequently burned out by anti-treaty forces and the institution was forced to move to Kilkenny workhouse until 1924 when it returned to Clonmel. During the 1920s and 1930s Clonmel borstal suffered from a degree of stagnation and did not progress at the same pace as the British institutions.
Advertisement
Neglect
In late 1940 the complex at Clonmel was once again taken over for military purposes at the height of the Emergency. The institution was moved to a separate wing of Cork prison for six years where borstal in Ireland continued to experience the same level of neglect.
In Cork the boys were subjected to education, trades training and a form of gymnastics known as Sokol drill which began in Czechoslovakia in the 1860s.
While St Patrick’s Institution came in for much criticism in the later 20th century the first high-profile condemnation came somewhat unexpectedly in 1946. Father Edward Flanagan was the legendary Roscommon-born founder of the Boys’ Town home for destitute boys in Omaha, Nebraska.
On a visit to Ireland during the summer of that year he declared:
From what I have seen since coming to this country, your institutions are not all noble, particularly your borstal, which are a disgrace.
Fr Edward J Flanagan, right, pictured here with the US Forces commander in Austria General Keyes in 1948. AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
By this time Flanagan was already a renowned expert in his field and was portrayed by Spencer Tracy in the MGM motion picture, Boys Town. Despite a solid reputation in America and around the world, his comments on the Irish prison and juvenile penal system earned him the wrath of many in officialdom in this country.
Government, opposition and church closed ranks against him, although one high-profile correspondent to the Irish Times, Maud Gonne MacBride, praised his courage for speaking out, describing it as “painful to read”.
Monsignor Flanagan died in May 1948 in Berlin. Such was the esteem in which he was held, US President Harry Truman placed a wreath on his grave at Boys’ Town two weeks after his death.
Upon its return to Clonmel the newly-named ‘St Patrick’s Borstal Institution, Clonmel’ underwent something of a cosmetic overhaul, possibly in response to Flanagan’s criticisms. However, decades of neglect and a lack of proper training facilities meant that the judiciary effectively lost faith in the system.
By the mid-1950s the numbers had declined to such an extent, with fewer than ever inmates coming from Dublin, it was decided to close the facility in Clonmel. On 1 December 1956, over a half century after its foundation, the Irish borstal institution vacated the town for the final time.
St Patrick's Institution in its Dublin location. PA Archive / Press Association Images
PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
It re-opened as St Patrick’s Borstal Institution, North Circular Road, Dublin, where inmates remained until the beginning of Holy Week 2015.
The word ‘borstal’ was dropped from the Irish penal system under the Criminal Justice Act introduced by Minister for Justice Oscar Traynor in 1960.
Conor Reidy is a lecturer at the Department of History in University of Limerick. His most recent book is Criminal Irish Drunkards – an examination of the Inebriate Reformatory system in Ireland in the early 20th century – and it can be purchased here at the History Press.
His history of Irish borstals, Ireland’s ‘Moral Hospital’: The Irish Borstal System 1906-1956 is available from the Irish Academic Press here.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Yes, I had a good laugh at the funny comments. I also feel sad that this article can’t be seen in a more positive light in that someone is trying to help the wildlife in this beautiful country, which should be cared for and cherished. Once it’s gone it will be very difficult to get back and future generations who might have woken up and realised what a precious asset we have and who mourn it’s loss will be wondering why we stood by and did nothing or, worse, made light of the efforts to preserve it!
The most comical signs on the motorway from Dublin to Cork are the “Deer Jumping” signs.
At 70+ MPH you ” ain’t gonna” avoid a deer who jumps in front of your car.
Both you and the deer are RIP.
Six hedgehogs were killed on the same stretch of road while holding a ‘white line’ protest about signage for otters being bumped up the waiting list by what they called ‘snobby otter advocacy groups’.
Fair play to Kildare co co. and the people of Kilcock for having the foresight to see the real reason for these signs, lets hope more local authorities follow suit.
Pope Francis had 'peaceful' night in hospital, Vatican says
1 hr ago
4.6k
7 deadly reads
Sitdown Sunday: 'How f**king twisted is that?' - James Murdoch on his relationship with his father
23 mins ago
1.3k
3
Mulhouse
One dead and several police officers wounded in 'Islamist' knife attack in France
Updated
15 hrs ago
36.0k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say