1. Reformatory School
  2. The Problem of Juvenile Crime
  3. Foundation of the Reformatory 1859
  4. Initial Stages
  5. Ethos
  6. Rapid Growth
  7. The Educational Challenge
  8. Visitors
  9. A Second Reformatory - Challenges and Critical Issues
  10. Encouraging Reports and Results
  11. Post Detention Care
  12. The Reformatory in the new Irish State 1922
  13. Late Vocations College 1929-1934
  14. Return of the Reformatory to Glencree 1934-1940
  15. Commission of Inquiry 1934-1936
  16. Closure of the Reformatory 1940
  17. The Late Vocation College 1940-1941
  18. 1942-1949: Chaplaincy
  19. Glencree Centre for Reconciliation 1974-

Reformatory School
Glencree, ‘the Valley of the Heart’, is located in the Wicklow Mountains, about eighteen kilometres south of the capital City of Dublin and ten kilometres west of the small town of Enniskerry. It was the site of a disused British Army Barracks, one of five such barracks built in Wicklow between 1800 and 1806 to counter rebel groups hiding in the Wicklow Mountains after the failed uprising of 1798. Lord Powerscourt, who owned large estates in the area, had leased the land at Glencree to the British Government. It was here, within three years of their first foundation in Ireland at Inchicore, Dublin, in June 1856, that the Oblates accepted the task of founding a Reformatory School for Boys, the first of its kind in the country.

Glencree (AD)

The Problem of Juvenile Crime
Eighteenth century Ireland, suffering under the penal laws against the Catholic Church, was marked by callousness and indifference towards children in need. By the end of the nineteenth century a remarkable concern for children’s welfare had developed. The establishment of reformatories was a part of this transformation. In the mid-nineteenth century Ireland was still recovering from the disastrous famines of 1845 and 1847. Poverty and deprivation were widespread, as were crime and vice, even among children. In 1853 there were over 12,000 children in Irish jails, incarcerated with adult criminals and subject to abuse and malign influences. These jails were really ‘schools for crime’. With no attempt made to reform or educate the children or train them for any future work, the children were released homeless, destitute and prone to turn again to crime. Efforts to remedy the situation were hindered by well-grounded fears on the part of Catholics of proselytism. A solution was found in the Reformatory Schools Act 1858 which extended to Ireland a system already operating in Britain and on the Continent to house, educate and reform young juveniles outside the adult penal system while being in the care of persons of their own faith.

Foundation of the Reformatory 1859
A committee of concerned laymen and clergymen was formed to set up a reformatory for Catholic boys under the provisions of this legislation. After many efforts to secure a more suitable site, they accepted the site of the barracks at Glencree. The Committee, with the support of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Cullen, then approached the Oblate provincial Fr. Robert Cooke with a request to assume responsibility for the work. Fr. Cooke felt that this ministry was in line with the charism of the Oblates and secured the approval of the Founder for this new work of the Congregation. The Chief Secretary of Ireland issued the necessary certificate on March 12th, 1859. Fr. Cooke appointed Fr. Francis J. Lynch as the new Superior and Manager. He was accompanied by two other Oblates priests and by fourteen Brothers, taken from Inchicore and from Oblate foundations in England. The first boy was received on April 14th, 1859. The School was named after St. Kevin, the founder of an ancient monastic settlement at Glendalough around 570 A.D., which was in the vicinity.

Initial Stages
Seen today the complex of buildings on the site is imposing. On arrival at Glencree in 1859 however the Oblates found the old barrack buildings in great disrepair. The Army had moved out in the early 1820’s, and the place was used only occasionally by the local Constabulary. Few rooms were habitable and one third of the buildings were without floors or windows. So the Brothers and the boys were faced with a massive job of restoration and of adding some new buildings for dormitories and other facilities. The initial capitation grant did not meet the cost of this refurbishment as it went mostly for food and heat. The Resident Manager and the other members of the staff were not salaried by the Government but lived merely out of the capitation grant and the donations of benefactors. It was necessary to solicit donations from charitable people and foundations to keep the Reformatory in operation, especially in these early days. A further fifty acres of bog was gradually reclaimed. But the soil was poor and could grow very little. The whole area was also treeless and the cold in winter was intense. Gradually, new buildings were added, with financial help from the Archdiocese and other Committee members, mostly in the form of loans. The Oblates were permitted to make appeals in the Archdiocese to repay these loans. Brother Ferdinand Vernet was the agent and liaison with suppliers.

Ethos
Soon after his appointment as Manager Fr. Lynch set out to study similar institutions in England and on the Continent. He was impressed by the Mettray reformatory. It was founded in 1839 by Frédéric Auguste de Metz, a former Judge of the Paris Court of Appeal, who was searching how to deal with juvenile offenders. He resigned his post to devote his life to the reformation of young criminals in France. He received a donation of 100 acres of land at Mettray, near Tours, and money to open what was termed a Penitential Colony. In Mettray great stress was laid on the influences of religion as the only solid foundation for the reformation of the boys. As described by Patrick Murray, a contemporary visitor and member of the Irish bar, the aim was to create a family spirit by having the young offenders live in separate houses or families. Newcomers were admitted only gradually, so that the spirit of each ‘family’ was preserved. This spirit was first formed in the staff itself, and no one was employed as staff until first being trained in a school separate from the reformatory. In the family, staff and colonists, as the juveniles were called, led a common life. There was constant close supervision and good behaviour was rewarded. There were also various forms of punishment given for bad conduct and whipping was not excluded.

It was not possible to implement all the features of the Mettray system in a barracks such as Glencree. Also the large number of committals of boys from the very start did not allow the gradual growth of a school spirit among the boys. As to the formation of the staff, however, the Oblates themselves had a strong sense of family unity and community spirit and those sent to staff Glencree had imbibed this spirit over a number of years in Oblate settings. The task of creating a positive, creative atmosphere fell mostly to the Oblate Brothers, who were encouraged to ‘practise kindness with firm but gentle discipline’. The aim was to create an environment of disciplined life through a regular schedule of work, play and sleep, to provide basic schooling and training in skills that would be useful when they left the Reformatory. The task of assimilation was helped by assigning boys to a Brother in a special relationship in a school/training group and whose task it was to integrate the new-comer into the tenor of the school. Basic food was provided, simple but ample. Gradually the boys were able to make their own clothes and shoes. Over the years, many tributes were paid by visitors, official and unofficial, to the wonderful manner in which the goals of this system were being achieved. Yet there were also many setbacks. Some boys were experienced as incorrigible. The boys were grouped in three sections depending on their behaviour, and in eight divisions for the purposes of labour. There was an honour system, with the boys and one of the Brothers had charge of each division with a boy monitor to assist him.

Rapid Growth
In a letter to the Superior General dated 5 October 1860 Fr. Robert Cooke noted that the number of boys at Glencree had already reached 210. In the period to 1900 there was an average annual intake of 75 boys. Details for one entry group of seventy boys indicate that their ages ranged from ten years to 16 years. The largest group was in the thirteen to fourteen age ranges. They were usually sentenced for five years. By the Reformatory Act of 1893, the Manager was authorized to keep boys up to nineteen years of age. He could also cut the time in half to a minimum of three years with good conduct and a suitable place to go when a boy left the School.

In 1867, Fr. Lynch was succeeded as the Superior and Resident Manager by Fr. Laurence P. Fox. By then the staff at Glencree had increased to 24 Lay Brothers. In 1878 there was a staff of 3 priests and 25 Brothers. This number would remain fairly constant throughout the school’s history. A schoolmaster, bandmaster, a master carpenter and two labourers were employed as well, and the boys were fruitfully involved in the day-to-day running of the school. Many were learning trades. Tailoring, shoemaking, cabinet-making, carpentry, stone cutting and mason work, painting, glazing plumbing, nail making, mat making and the manufacture of gas from coal are all mentioned in the Manager’s Report of 1869, together with work in the house, in the gardens, in the bakery, laundry and in the stables. Peat was cut for fuel and some land was cleared and developed for grazing, making hay and the growing of potatoes and vegetables. A lot of other food still had to be bought and brought up by horse and cart on the rough roads from Enniskerry and Dublin. Livestock included about twenty-five milk cows and two hundred sheep. One of the new dormitories was converted into an infirmary. Sick boys were attended regularly by a doctor from Enniskerry. By 1872 a new bakery had been built, mostly by the boys, and plans were well in hand to set up a printing shop, which developed well in later years and brought in some much needed income. In all of these activities and enterprises the boys were being taught gradually the art of self-sufficiency. Yet it was a struggle financially with expenses exceeding income over many years. As their skills improved the boys were making chairs and couches for hotels and for private homes and these were deemed to be of a very high standard of workmanship.

The Educational Challenge
Only a small number of the boys could read or write. A schoolmaster was employed and some of the Brothers assisted him in giving regular classes in these subjects. The 1896 Report of the Resident Manager states that the time given to these classes was equivalent to that in the National Schools outside.

Even though the School was set up for Catholic boys many had not even made their First Communion and a few were not even baptized. So regular catechism classes were organised and well attended. The boys were expected to attend Mass on Sundays, though none were forced to do so. There was also an annual retreat and ample opportunity for the Sacrament of Confession. By 1869 a temporary chapel existed, and in 1871 Lord Powerscourt donated a piece of land beside the School for a church and cemetery. Brother F. Vernet, solicited donations to build the church; and a lot of the stone cutting and other work was done by the boys themselves, who also worked on the benches and confessionals. Donations were slow in coming and ten years elapsed before the building was completed. The total cost was estimated then at about two thousand pounds sterling.

Visitors
As the Reformatory developed it attracted many visitors including the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viceroys, various Lord Mayors of Dublin, members of the Dublin Corporation and, in summer, interested and curious members of the public arriving by carriage from Dublin. The visitors were entertained frequently by the Fife and Drum Band and at times by Drama Performances. The Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Paul Cullen, came to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation in July 1871 and wrote after his visit: “I found the boys well instructed in Christian Doctrine and in everything connected with holy religion. I am pleased with the discipline in the house and the good order and conduct of the children.”

A Second Reformatory – Challenges and Critical Issues
Already by 1870 the number of boys being committed to the School called for the opening of a second like establishment. The Government approached the then Oblate provincial Fr. Thomas Pinet, o.m.i., to undertake the administration of this second Reformatory School. It was again located in a disused Army Barracks, this time at Philipstown, Co. Offaly, in the middle of Ireland. Some of the Brothers who worked at Glencree were transferred to Philipstown, to help train others newly assigned there.

St. Conleth School, Daingean (AD)

Encouraging Reports and Results
The Report of the Inspector for Reformatories of 1895 indicated that the number of children committed for crimes between 1870 and 1890 had diminished by over 50% and he concluded that this was a good indication of the success of such schools. Statistics for the years 1893 to 1895 indicated that of those discharged from the Reformatory only 9% were reconvicted. This was a considerable reduction on previous years.

Post Detention Care
Sometimes the School managed to get the boys bound to a trade as apprentices. There was, however, a problem in finding the boys employment when they left, as many Trades refused to accept their training and even let them in for training. Some boys emigrated to Australia and other countries and seemed to do well there The 1874 Report of the Manager mentioned that the Oblates were encouraged by a boy who had gone to Australia eight years previously, prospered and spent most of his holiday time back in Ireland at the Reformatory.

The Reformatory in the new Irish State 1922
In the Twentieth Century the number of committals gradually declined. In the period 1900-1918 the average annual intake was 47. In the period 1919-1921 this fell to 23. A new situation arose after 1922 when Ireland, except six northern counties, became a Free State and power was transferred from England to a new Irish Government. Numbers of committals to the schools by the courts declined even further. This was partly due to unsettled conditions and partly to a questioning of the value of reformatories. In the period 1922-1925 there were 70 committals to Glencree, an annual average of 17-18.

In his small booklet ‘The Reformatory System’, published in 1923, which was in the nature of an ‘apologia’ for the reformatory system, the then Resident Manager, Fr. Louis Foley, emphasized that the aim of the reformatory was to train, not to punish. The method of training must agree in its fundamentals with the method pursued in colleges. The school was at this time divided into two sections, junior and senior. The former worked on the farm, in the dairy or at carpentry, boot-making and baking. The latter worked in the knitters’ and tailors’ shops and in the garden. Realistically, Fr. Foley stressed that the efforts at reform were slow and gradual. The boys resented irksome restrictions on their hitherto unfettered life Most of them made attempts to escape during their first six months. Later, they came to accept the situation and began to see the necessity of preparing for their life after release. For Fr. Foley a clear line must be drawn between the main lines of the system and the superimposed regulations. The latter should assume the nature of counsels rather than rules and need to be flexible. Former systems sought to confine like a cage; the latter seek to restrain like a net.

In May 1923 the Manager of Daingean was informed by the Inspector of Reformatories that the Irish Government had decided to close one of the two Reformatories administered by the Oblates. By July of the same year, the Oblate provincial had come to the same decision. The number of boys at the School in Glencree was only 70 with 200 vacancies. There were even less boys at Daingean. A minimum of one hundred boys in each establishment was deemed financially viable. A Provincial Council Meeting of December 12th 1923 decided to notify the Government that the Oblates would close down Glencree as a Reformatory but no notice was actually sent to the Government. At this time too local entrepreneurs were pressing to take over the premises at Daingean for local industries. In January 1925 the Provincial Council again discussed the advisability of closing one of the reformatories. Both were in debt and no further aid was forthcoming from the Government. Both Resident Managers presented their views to the Provincial Council in person. Fr. Collins, Resident Manager of Daingean favoured closing Glencree. He maintained that Daingean was more accessible, had better facilities and workshops and was less costly to run: it also had a more secure lease. Fr. Hughes, Resident Manager at Glencree, was optimistic that numbers in both places would increase, due to the forthcoming introduction by the Government of a new Children’s Bill. His view was supported by the Department of Education, while the Department of Finance favoured the closure of one of the Reformatories. The Provincial Council decided to await the outcome of the Bill and see if the number of boys committed would increase. In July 1925 the Provincial Council sent a representative to the Government seeking financial help to clear bank overdrafts in both Daingean and Glencree. There was no satisfactory response to this appeal, merely a suggestion from the Government that the Oblates put pressure on Local Authorities to increase their share of the capitation grant.

The Children’s Act of 1908 had provided for three sources of financing to defray the costs of running a reformatory. These were the State Treasury, the Council of the County or County Borough and, where possible, the parents or guardians of the boy committed. At this time the grant from the County Council was five shillings Irish per week for each boy with the Central Government contributing eight shillings weekly. Sometimes the Local Government bodies failed to meet their obligation. The debt remained.

A Report of the Resident Manager in 1925, Fr. James Hughes, proposed many changes. By that time the School was under the sole direction of the Irish Department of Education. Fr. Hughes requested that the name of the School be changed to St. Kevin’s Training School. This proposal was approved by the Department but never implemented. In his Report Fr. Hughes wrote: “While good and lasting results have justified the philanthropic motives that inspired our being assigned this work, nevertheless, the term “ Reformatory” lingers hurtfully in the popular mind, through association of ideas with that of a “ Juvenile Jail”.

He went on to insist that boys should not be regarded as delinquents nor stigmatised as such, and that a boy should never be asked why he was committed. Often boys were bad because of parental neglect or exposure to and unhealthy environment and their native goodness was to be recognized and drawn out of such boys. Corporal punishment should be rarely applied and was, at the time, not applied in the School.

On January 28th, 1926 the Provincial Council again decided to close Glencree as a Reformatory and have the boys transferred to Daingean. Again this decision was rescinded owing to opposition from the Department of Education. In November of 1926 the Provincial Council discussed a proposal by the Minister of Education that the Oblates close Daingean as a Reformatory so that the premises could be available for a Borstal Institution. This move would have seriously depreciated the value of the land we owned at Daingean. The Council rejected the proposal and re-iterated its decision to close Glencree as a Reformatory and keep Daingean. The Council resigned the Certificate of operation at Glencree and requested the Government to arrange for the transfer of the boys from Glencree to Daingean. The Department of Education continued to argue that Glencree was a better place for the Reformatory, it being closer to Dublin and less expensive. On May 10th.1927 all sixty-seven boys were transferred from Glencree to Daingean and Glencree was officially closed as a reformatory School. On January 1st, 1927, due to differences over this decision, the Resident Manager of Glencree, Fr. James Hughes was replaced by Fr. John Daly.

Late Vocations College 1929-1934
Fr. John Daly saw the closure of Glencree as an opportunity to realize a long cherished hope, the opening of a College for Late Vocations. He did so on October 3rd 1929, Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, assisted by some other Oblate priests and Brothers. The priests taught classical subjects to those who aspired to be priests and Oblates and had not been able to pursue or complete Secondary Level education. A special course was designed for these students with the assistance of specialists in Adult Education. The usual course took three years and the standard aimed at was the pass level of the Secondary Schools Leaving Certificate; extern examiners checked the work of the students annually. On February 15th 1933 Fr. Eugene J. Doherty succeeded Fr. Daly as Superior.

Return of the Reformatory to Glencree 1934-1940
However, the saga of Glencree as a Reformatory School was not yet finished. In August 1931, coincident with the appointment of Fr. James McDermott Moran as Resident Manager of the Reformatory at Daingean, replacing Fr. Patrick Collins, the Provincial Council proposed to the Irish Government that the Reformatory be moved back to Glencree and that Daingean be leased to the Oblates for ninety-nine years for use as a Juniorate, combined with a Late Vocations College. As delays continued over the negotiations for a new lease, the Oblate plan changed. Increasing numbers of vocations were putting pressure on the scholasticate at Belmont House, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. So in 1934, with a new lease secured at Daingean, it became the scholasticate of the Anglo-Irish province, the Late Vocations College was removed to Belmont House, Stillorgan, Dublin and Glencree again became a Reformatory School. The boys were moved there from Daingean on July 7th 1934. The Resident Manager at Daingean, Fr. McDermott Moran now took over at Glencree. He was followed as Resident Manager in January 1937 by Fr. William O’Connor.

Commission of Inquiry 1934-1936
In 1934, a Commission of Inquiry into the Reformatory and Industrial School System was set up by the Irish Government. The Resident Manager at Glencree, Fr. James Mc D Moran, was one of those who gave evidence at the Commission. Paragraph 28 of the Report of the Commission stated: “As a result of our investigation we are satisfied that, subject to the introduction of various changes which we have indicated in the course of the report as desirable, the present system of Reformatory and Industrial Schools affords the most suitable method of dealing with children suffering from the disabilities to which we have referred and we recommend its continuance. We specially recommend that the management of the Schools by Religious Orders who have undertaken that work should continue.”

Closure of the Reformatory 1940
With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 there was an increase in committals to the reformatory by the courts. Accommodation at Glencree was proving to be insufficient. On November 19th 1939, An Taoiseach, Mr. Eamonn de Valera, visited the premises at Daingean “to see if our place of abode would provide sufficient accommodation for the boys of the overcrowded Glencree Reformatory”. The Oblates were asked to effect a change from Glencree to Daingean and on August 6th.1940 all two hundred and forty boys were moved to Daingean and Glencree was closed again as a Reformatory School, this time finally. The records of the boys committed to the Reformatory over the years were placed in the custody of the State. The Oblates have obtained copies of those that are extant, but these amount only to some admission registers.

The Late Vocation College 1940-1941
The Late Vocations College moved back from Belmont House to Glencree in the autumn of 1940. However, its tenure there was far from secure. Correspondence between Fr. Michael O’Ryan, provincial, and Archbishop Edward Byrne of Dublin in November 1939 indicates that Fr. O Ryan was looking for another site for the Late Vocations College and was interested in a property at Whitestown, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. The purchase price proved too high and a lease was not possible. Pressure came from the Government in December 1941 when it sought to obtain part of the premises to locate one hundred men, working at cutting peat in bogs around Glencree to alleviate the fuel crisis due to World War II. The Superior of the Late Vocations College, Fr. Eugene J. Doherty, o.m.i., did not feel that such an arrangement was feasible. He requested the provincial to seek alternate accommodation for the College. This was not forthcoming, so the College closed at the end of 1941. During the years of its existence ninety-eight young men studied there and 58 went on to become Oblate priests and missionaries in various parts of the world. One of its alumni – Fr William McGonagle – was to become Oblate provincial.

1942-1949: Chaplaincy
In early 1942, using emergency powers, the Government informed the Oblates that it would acquire the premises and land at Glencree. The transfer was completed by December of that year. The Superior, Fr. Eugene J. Doherty, was asked by the Government to stay on at Glencree and minister to the men working the peat bogs. Fr. Arthur McIntyre stayed with him to form a community. The then Archbishop of Dublin, John McQuaid, c.s.s.p., agreed that Fr. Doherty could stay there until September 1945. Frs. Eugene Doherty and Arthur McIntyre moved into a cottage nearby. This stay was further extended when the Government, through the Irish Red Cross, used the former School as a refuge for Polish and later German child refugees. Fr. Arthur McIntyre died there on February 8th 1946 and is buried in the cemetery adjoining the church. In September 1946 the provincial, Fr. James O’Shea, informed the Archbishop of Dublin that the freehold of the church and cemetery at Glencree had been acquired and that the Oblates wished to transfer these to the Archdiocese of Dublin. He also requested the Archbishop to release Fr. Doherty from his duties as chaplain to the refugee children. In April 1947, the legal deeds of transfer for both the church and cemetery were signed by the Oblate Trustees, and the Archdiocese was requested to take possession of these. There was no charge involved and the church was handed over fully furnished. By a decree of the Superior General, dated January 28th. 1949, the House at Glencree was suppressed.

In all some 69 Oblate Brothers and 42 Oblate priests ministered to the boys in St. Kevin’s.

Men of the highest calibre were appointed to the position of resident manager. Three of them went on to become Vicars Apostolic in South Africa: Charles Cox, Matthew Gangrene and William Miller.

Glencree Centre for Reconciliation 1974-
The premises at Glencree were used subsequently by various groups. In 1974 it became the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, an autonomous corporation, which seeks to work with people who are trying to bring about peace in whatever area and aspect of society there is unrest. The Centre was initially prompted by the conflict in the North of Ireland.

Richard Haslam, Vincent Denny
and Michael Hughes, o.m.i.