Other Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Goldenbridge, Dublin, Ireland · 1983

Goldenbridge: Ryan Report finds pervasive punishment and constant humiliation of committed girls

Record class

Institutional event

Evidence status

Official finding

Authority role

Sisters of Mercy holding total custodial and spiritual authority over committed girls

Organization

St Vincent's Industrial School, Goldenbridge, Sisters of Mercy

Spiritual nexus

Girls were committed by the courts to Goldenbridge under the total custodial and spiritual authority of the Sisters of Mercy; the convent's religious governance is what made the regime unrefusable.

Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2009-05-20 · statutory inquiry finding

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Ryan Commission), Ireland — statutory inquiry. The Ryan Report's general conclusions on Goldenbridge found: 'Punishment in Goldenbridge was pervasive. Children were beaten for small infringements. It was unpredictable, arbitrary and led to a climate of fear', and 'The Sisters in charge during the relevant period were harsh and unfeeling towards the children. Humiliation and degradation were constant occurrences.' Complainant testimony recorded in the chapter describes a Sister the report names 'Sr Alida' as extremely cruel, including beatings for bedwetting.

Documented coercion mechanisms

pervasive, arbitrary punishment producing a climate of fear
humiliation and degradation as constant occurrences

Primary record

Sources

official statutory inquiry report inquiry report Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, 'Report' (Ryan Report), Vol. II, ch. 7 (Goldenbridge), paras 152–163 and general conclusions para. 592 (20 May 2009).: The statutory inquiry's findings on pervasive punishment, the climate of fear, and constant humiliation and degradation.

Related record

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