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The ‘Decade of Centenaries’ All-island history competition for primary and post-primary schools Template cover sheet which must be included at the front of all projects

Title of project: The Institute and the Education of Deaf \ Mute Girls in our School, 1892-1940

“Our Industrial Revolution”

Category for which you wish to be entered (i.e. ‘Decade of Centenaries’, biography, Local / Regional Issue local/regional, or national (including social/cultural) Issues

Name(s) of class / group of students / Transition Year History Class 2 (T.Y.P. 2) individual student submitting the project:

School roll number (this should be provided if possible): 63310T

School address (this must be provided even St. Joseph’s Secondary School, for projects submitted by a Rochfortbridge, group of pupils or an Co. Westmeath individual pupil):

Class teacher’s name this must be provided even for projects submitted by a group Noel Foynes of pupils or an individual pupil):

Contact phone number: (044) 9222176

Contact email address:

www.mercyrochfortbridge.ie

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The Institute and the Education of Deaf \ Mute Girls in our School, 1892-1940

“Our Industrial Revolution”

Between the years 1892 to 1940 there existed in our School an Institute for the training and

education of deaf \ mute young girls. This Institute not only played a very significant role in

the lives of the Sisters and their students during this period but it also impacted on the

economic and social fabric of the wider community in Co. Westmeath.

Even though as this research will later reveal an industry built up around these students, it can

not be described as an Industrial School. In the nineteenth century, Industrial Schools were

mainly run for children of no fixed abode or for orphans, Rochfortbridge fell into neither

category. From the pages of “To Serve With Gladness” published in 2012 to coincide with

the celebrations of one hundred and fifty years of the Sisters of Mercy in Rochfortbridge,

we read: “the children placed in the care of the Sisters of Mercy were placed there by their

families to help provide an education for their children and to help them gain skills which

would help them to interact and survive in a world of silence where communication and

understanding were more often than not quite difficult for them.”

The original idea for the setting up of this school came during the period when the then

Bishop of Meath, Dr. Thomas Nulty was anxious to set up an institute for deaf mute young

girls in the diocese as a cousin of his was a deaf mute. Interestingly, Dr. Nulty has also

provided us with a window onto what was happening in Ireland at this precise point in time

as he was a friend and supporter of the Irish nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell, Parnell

having being first elected as a member of parliament for Co.

Meath in 1875. In 1888 this friendship between the two was

coming to an end because of the divorce crisis that was by now

shadowing Parnell. Dr. Nulty became very extreme in his

condemnation of “the uncrowned King”, as in an edition of the

History Ireland magazine (Issue 2 March\April, 2010), we read of

a pastoral (sermon) delivered by him on the eve of the July 1892

election in which he declared: “that no Parnellite voter could

remain a Catholic”, strong words still persisting with him at this

time considering Parnell had died prematurely the previous

October.

St. Joseph’s Institute for Deaf Mutes c.1900 St. Joseph’s Secondary School 2015

Dr. Thomas Nulty

Bishop of Meath (1864-1898)

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W.B. Yeats in his 1937 poem, “Come Gather Round me

Parnellites” summed up “that tragic story” better than anyone

as he accurately recalled:

“The Bishops and the Party

That tragic story made,

A husband that had sold his wife

And after that betrayed;

But stories that live longest

Are sung above the glass,

And Parnell loved his country

And Parnell loved his lass”

However, aside from the national issues of elections and Home Rule in 1892, the job of

setting up this school in Rochfortbridge still had to be undertaken and this onerous task fell

to the then Superioress of the Convent, Sr. M. Stanislaus O’Neill sometimes seen written as

Stanislas. She was born in Dublin in 1842. She was one of the founding sisters of the

Convent of Mercy in Rochfortbridge and for most of her life

was Mistress of Novices when not working in her capacity

as Superior. The pupils on arriving occupied St. Joseph’s on

the Main Street, (on the former Main Dublin \ Galway road).

This had been the original Convent from its beginnings in

1862 but by now the Sisters had moved to the “new”

Convent in 1872 situated in the gardens behind the Institute

and the local Catholic Church. The Westmeath Examiner in

their obituary notice which appeared in February 1917 paid

a very fitting tribute to her thus: “When she came to the

“Bridge” the now spacious up-to-date Convent was a place

of very limited dimensions, and little was known of it, while

today, with its

splendid

educational

facilities, its deaf

and dumb institute attached, it ranks amongst the

foremost religious houses in Ireland. For this the

deceased Nun is primarily responsible”.

Aside also from her many duties, she also found

time to prepare pupils for the London College of

Music and according to the 2012 edition:

“To Serve With Gladness”, “they all obtained

honours”. She was also described as gentle, holy

and humble possessed of an unusually cultured

mind, she developed the intelligence of her pupils

always, with the view to make them thrifty, refined

members of society.

Mother M. Stanilaus O’Neill

“Westmeath Examiner” 1917

Charles Stewart Parnell (1845-1891)

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Funding such an adventure was always going to be difficult

and from the very beginning these deaf \ mute girls were not

only taught how to read and write but also to sew to knit

and to manufacture lace which was constantly on display

and for sale in the school. The Sisters even to this day have

in safe keeping a number of these pieces of lace used for

display purposes from time to time. Local people called the

lace manufactured at the Institute “Rochfortbridge Lace”.

From the beginning and through the life time of the

Institute, we found evidence of many bequests (wills).

In the beginning Dr. Nulty secured one third of the Arthur

Smith Bequest which amounted to £50, not forgetting the local parishioners in economically

challenging times who came up with £132 and well wishers £118 wiping out the initial debt.

From the pages of the “Westmeath Examiner” and dated 25th. February 1905 (page 4),

we managed to uncover a charitable donation from a Rev.

Mathew Hynes originally from Co. Westmeath but at the

time of his death residing in Moynalty, Co. Meath.

It was of particular interest to learn that this kind of

sensitive and personal information was available and made

public in the Ireland of 1905, but nontheless, it was a great

help to the former

students of our

school. Another

intriguing aspect of

a “different” Ireland

found in this Will

was the use of the

legal term

“the Mullingar

District Registry

of the King’s Bench”.

It is also to be remembered that Bishop Nulty always maintained a keen interest in the

Institute from the beginning and bequethed Canal Shares for its upkeep up until his death in

1898. The Sisters also saw an ongoing need to advertise such a “specialist” school on a

national scale particularly as numbers were starting to dwindle from about 1920 onwards and

this was evident from an advertisement dated 30th. June, 1925 which appeared with an

advertising sales pitch of: “Do not Neglect the

Afflicted.” It was interesting and surprising to see the

impact this type of 1925 advertising had because it must

have been reaching a very wide audience. In the census

returns previous to this date students from most counties

in Ireland were represented with also a student from the

Arran Islands and two students from London.

The Sisters of Mercy Rochfortbridge Convent c.1897

Back row, from left to right, Sr.Gertrude Smith,

Sr.Josephine O’Gorman, Sr.Therése Byrne,

Sr.Antonia Kelly, Sr.Alacoque Coffey.

Front row, from left to right, Sr.Columba Fitzpatrick,

Sr.Agnes Weir, Sr.Magdalene Hackett,

Sr.Stanilaus O’Neill, Sr.Agnes Nangle.

A sample of “Rochfortbridge Lace”

A newspaper advertisement, June, 1925

Rev. Mathew Hynes Bequest

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The Annals were a hand written yearly

account of life in the Convent and

thankfully of local and national events of

the day. Each year the then Bishop of

Meath on a visit would read and sign

them as an accurate portrayal of life in

the Convent. For the purposes of this

research they proved invaluable as many

references were made to the deaf \ mute

Institute throughout the period of its

existence.

For example from this extract we read:

“For a short time there were thirty

deaf mutes, but the number was

seldom higher than twenty-five”.

We also discovered an early

reference to the demise of the

Institute from this particular entry

because as early as 1920 we note

that: “the number of deaf mutes

decreased very much”, it goes on

to say: “Better facilities were

available in Cabra, and it was

much more central”.

Not surprisingly, from the census

returns of 1901 and 1911 we also

uncovered a number of surprising

and interesting facts concerning

the Institute. Firstly we noted that

the census return for the Institute

was called a Form C with the title

of: “College and Boarding School

Return”. 1901 Institute Census

In 1901 there were twenty-four students and two teachers listed in this return. Interestingly

one of the teachers a Miss Ellen Mary Jane Cronin from Co. Cork was aged thirty eight years

at the time and was listed as Deaf and Dumb. From the annals of the convent, we found an

entry that informed us that she had trained as a specialist teacher in Cabra in Dublin where

there was also such a school for deaf \ mute students and that she remained on in the Institute

in Rochfortbridge as a teacher until 1903. Other significiant points of interest to be learned

from this census return was the broad geographical base from where all these students came

from and the variety in their ages. For example we read of the eighteen year olds Teresa

Waters and Bridget Farrelly from Co. Louth and Co. Meath respectively down to Margaret

Moore from Limerick city who was listed as a three year old in 1901 although this may have

been an error as her age was given as sixteen in the 1911 returns. Much more importantly

though was the fact that in the 1901 return, Margaret was listed in the column under

“Education” as: “cannot read”, but by 1911 she was listed as being able to read, so in the

intervening ten years she had mastered this most difficult of skills in her silent world.

Extract from the Annals of the Convent No.1.

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By 1911 as can be noted from the census

pages, the school now had thirty one students

on the roll. Interestingly the age profile of

these students soared from the 1901 census,

for example Mary Glynn from Co. Meath

whose age was given at forty six and Emily

Walsh from Co. Dublin aged thirty nine to

Mary Flynn from King’s County (Offaly)

at only age six. Five students from 1901

remained in 1911 and they were as already

mentioned Margaret Moore from Limerick

city, Margaret Grant from Co. Meath, Bridget

Fitzgerald from Co. Kerry, Catherine

McLaughlin from Derry city and

Catherine Sheridan from Co. Westmeath. 1911 Institute Census (Part 1)

The photograph seen below is a very significant primary source as it was taken on the school

grounds sometime between the years 1905-1912 as it verifies a lot of the information given

particulary in the returns of the 1911 census. It is also very clear to see from this that the

school population of the Institute comprised by then of both younger children and adults in

the company of their teachers and the clergy of the parish.

In March and April 1906, the “Westmeath

Examiner” newspaper ran two articles about the

deaf \ mute Institute. These two articles more than

anything else gave us an insight into how the

school was run. The first article published on the

31st. March 1906 and titled: “A Practical

Industrial Object” mainly honed in on the

industrial work carried out in the school.

The second article which appeared on the

14th. April 1906 was a follow-on and titled:

“An Interesting Institution-Practical Industrial Effort” mainly concentrated on the

“special” education received in the school. From both of these articles, it became very

apparent to us that the author was very impressed with the work being carried out in the

school both educationally and industrially. In modern day terms it could have been regarded

as a school inspection that went well. The author of this article also expressed a curiousity

with the Visitors Book that had to be

signed by offical visitors.

The first article as already mentioned

was mainly “industrial” and the training

of girls in the workplace was commented

on and how their skills of knitting,

sewing and lace-making was developed

which resulted in the production of lace

and linen work, altar cloths,

handkerchiefs, vests and underware.

1911 Institute Census (Part 2)

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The author then went on a sales pitch and

encouraged people to come to Rochfortbridge to

purchase some of the goods on offer. We read for

example: “the articles, including so many things of

everyday need, are sold by the Sisters, with no

effort to obtain large prices, or to add on because

of the work being done at the Institute. On the

contrary they merely ask a fair, reasonable price,

comparing most favourably with the prices in some

of the largest shops”. In the conclusion, this writer

becomes even more animated by saying: “the

people of Westmeath and other midland counties

owe to give earnest and practical help to industrial

effort that is at hand and in their midst.......neither

tongue nor pen is of any avail in the industrial revival unless its efforts be quickly followed by

people buying Irish manufactured goods”.

The second and follow-on article mainly dealt

with education in the Institute and the difficulties

instructing children with disabilities in the Ireland

of 1906. This article interstingly got to the heart of

the matter as the author somewhat perplexed as to

how these students could learn because: “one can

tell them nothing by the mouth, for they would not

hear, and they could not, on the other hand, The Westmeath Examiner 1906 Extract No.2.

tell what it was they knew or would like explained, because they were unable to speak”.

The simple answer was that the students were taught: “by means of objects, observance and

motion of the lips and mouth, facial expression,

pictures etc., by degrees patience and kindness and

love are rewarded, and the poor deaf and dumb girl

begins to be able to write questions or frame

answers on a piece of paper, or a blackboard.....” The Westmeath Examiner 1906 Extract No.3.

Inside the Convent c.1900 “Instruction at the Institute” : A Student’s View

The only negative remark that the author of these articles could muster was that more space was

required for the work that was being carried out but unfortunately even though the ground was

available the funds to carry out such work were not in 1906. W.B. Yeats yet again appropriately: “Had I the heaven's embroidered cloths,

enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

of night and light and the half-light”...........

The Westmeath Examiner 1906 Extract No.1.

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An interesting part of our study was to

find that areas of the school that were

used by our former students in the

Institute are still used by us today.

In these photographs the original Institute

school room looks much the same today

with only the easels having been replaced

by the data projector and the fireplace by

the radiators. One constant remaining

though is a small piece of white marble

with a big history. When the Institute was being The DCG Room 2015

set up in 1892, foundress Sr. Stanilaius whom we have already documented wrote to the

Very Rev. T. Kirby, Archbishop in the Irish College in Rome seeking a blessing from the

Holy Father who at that time was Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) for the education of deaf \ mute

children. Archbishop Kirby not only sent the Pope’s blessing but also this piece of white

marble that had been given to him by Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) the previous Pope. It was

blessed by Leo XIII and embedded in this part of the school in 1893 where it remains to this

day. The marble itself came from the Catacombs from the grave of St. Callistus, the patron

saint of grave diggers. The Latin on this piece reads:“commemorating Callistus..Pope Pius

IX.. Great...Sacred Prince..and the year”. History in the walls and on the walls of our school.

St. Callistus

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) leading author and politican regarded as one of the founding

fathers of the United States known as “the first American” famously advised:

“write injuries in dust, benefits in marble”

Marble from the Tomb of St. Callistus embedded in the wall

in the school room of the Institute from this 1900 photograph.

This same piece of marble remains today in the DCG Room.

The Altar Press on the back wall of the 1900 school room.

The Institute School Room c.1900

Marble from Rome

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Another interesting story of education found in the Institute was

in the area of religious instruction. When the National School

system was set up in Ireland in 1831 one of its main objectives

was that the education provided was to be non-religious, this

seemingly also applied to the students of the Institute as pictorial

evidence suggests. In order to get around this ruling, the Sisters

provided altar presses in all of their classrooms in the primary

school and one was to be seen on the back wall of the main

classroom in the Institute. These altars looked just like ordinary

dressers that would have adorned most kitchens in Ireland around

this time, but these presses when opened would have more often

than not contained a statue of Our Lady with vases of flowers on

each side. On hearing of an imminent inspection, the Altar Press

was hastily closed and locked.

From another viewing of the annals of the convent, it was possible to come up with some of

the names of the teachers who worked in the Institute. For example from this extract we find

that the original teacher had been: “governess to Mr. R. Coffey Newcastle”.

Other names found here were Miss Browne, Miss Gaynor and as already mentioned:

“Miss Cronin, who had been trained in Cabra came afterwards and remained until 1903”.

In another page from the annals we see that: “Two girls that had been trained in the Mercy

Convent, Gort were engaged to teach the deaf mutes

lace making and sewing”, these

were Miss Hayes who was in charge of the lace

making and Miss O’Rourke who looked after the

linen work. From then on the main teachers in the

Institute were Sr. M. Gertrude and Sr. M. Antonia

with Sr. Antonia remaining on in charge until the

Institute closed in 1940.

Apart form the lace and linen work carried out in that part of the

school, there was also an educational aspect. The 1906

“Westmeath Examiner” articles not only lauded the industrial

wing of the school but also the education the students received.

On the 14th. April 1906 this issue of the article had the

following to say: “The knowledge of some of the pupils seen by

the writer in various school subjects was quite marvellous and

would be most credible to many who had been with eyes, ears

and tongue studying for a similar time”.

One sample of such work examined by the author

from one of the students exercise copies ran thus: “The Autumn months are August, September and

October. The daylight gradually shortens, the flowers

fade, the fruit ripens, the leaves assume various tints,

and fall from the trees. We may now gather blackberries,

acorns, nuts chesnuts and walnuts”. (Irons as used in the Institute)

The Altar Press

Extract from the Annals of the Convent No.2.

A sample of Rochfortbridge Lace

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Throughout the lifetime of this “special” school a

number of incidentals worth mentionong occured. For

instance in 1899 a story from the annals tells of a public

concert given by the deaf / mute students of the Institute

in which they acted “Babes in the Wood” in signs. They

also danced the Skirt Dance, popular in the 1890’s and

desribed as where: “women dancers would manipulate

long, layered skirts with their arms to create a motion of

flowing fabric”. They also danced a type of folk dance

called the Tarantella and Jigs were also performed.

Another story is told of a fire that broke out in the turf

shed in St. Joseph’s one night in 1910 that contained

about fifteen tons of coal and a cask of paraffin oil, this

fire though was quickly brought under control because of

the intervention of “the kindly neighbours” and the

“Babes in the Wood”, 1899 students from the Institute who operated a chain of

buckets. Between the years 1919-1921, the War of Independence raged in Ireland and

because St. Joseph’s Institute was on then main Dublin \

Galway road it was not without incident. In the annals of the

convent we read of many fearful incidents because of the

attempts by the Black and Tans to commandeer the convent.

These great primary

source accounts tell us of

such heightened tensions

in extracts where we

read: “lorry loads of

Black and Tans were

constantly passing and

many shots were

fired........the Sisters who

were in the grounds The Convent of Mercy in 1911

narrowly escaped being hit by bullets........a number of Black

and Tans came to the door and hammered on it to get in”.

In order to bring this story more to life we attempted to run a thread through one particular

student from the Institute in an effort to empathise with her in her particular history.

In the census of 1911, Ellen Doyle was described as a

twelve year old deaf and non-speaking child that came to

this school from Co. Kerry. Interestingly in the early part of

the twentieth century her journey to and from the midlands

would have been an arduous one in a world where it was

difficult for her to communicate. All the indications seem to

point to her travelling on some form of public transport as

the Institute issued neck medallions (seen here) for these

journeys as students like Ellen would not have been able to

state their destinations.

(Neck Medallion worn by students of the Institute on Public Transport)

“Students of the Institute” c.1900

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In order to tell her story we must be aware that we walk in some of the places she walked

that we still use some of the same rooms she used over one hundred years ago and this

fills us with a mixture of awe and pride. If she could have spoken what would her story

have been? We must try to imagine her life based on the sources we have at our disposal

for the benefits of this stepping back in time.

This is Ellen’s story: “My name is Ellen Doyle, I come from Co. Kerry and as many may

already know I am a deaf \ mute. This year I was lucky enough to be able to come up to the

Rochfortbridge Institute for deaf \ mute girls, it has changed my life for the better and has

shown me that even though I may be a deaf \mute, I am just as capable of learning and

success as anyone else. This institute has opened a world of opportunity for me that I am

eternally grateful for. Before I came here my life was lonely and friendless due to the fact

I couldn’t communicate even to my own family. But since I learned I finally have a way to

communicate to other people like myself, I can’t even begin to explain what it’s like to be a

deaf \ mute, all I can say is that it’s not easy. For the most part of my life I walked around

being oblivious to what anyone was saying. I sometimes wish I wasn’t born this way,

I quickly turned those thoughts around and am grateful for the life God has given me it might

not be perfect but it’s still a life and its mine to live. My biggest hope in life is acceptance by

the people around me for who I am. Is that not too much to ask for”?

From this final extract from the

annals of the convent we read

where: The Deaf \ Mute School

ceased to exist about 1940, a

few deaf mutes remaining on as

maids, and St. Joseph’s was

given over entirely to Boarders

who attended the N. Schools”.

Ellen Doyle would have been

one of those students who

remained on at work in St.

Extract from the Annals of the Convent No.3. Joseph’s as her final resting

place is to be found in Meedin parish churchyard, Rochfortbridge. Another was Mary Ellen

Geraghty who was the last student of the Institute to die on the 4th. August 1991, and while

she may have been the last survivor of the Institute she became the first to be interred in the

new cemetry in the village of Rochfortbridge.

By the time the Institute closed its doors in 1940, Ireland too had changed in the intervening

years since 1892 during the lifetime of the Institute. The new Irish Free State had come into

existence in 1922 and by 1940 the then Taoiseach Eamon deValera

was steering the country through a policy of neutrality during World

War II. There is also much mention of this “war-time-life” in the

annals of the convent where we can again read that:

“During the war years there was great difficulty in getting goods and

the prices were exorbitant. We could get no veiling, apron or

handkerchef check and it was almost impossible to get serge or calico.

Butter, tea, sugar, flour, bread, soap and clothes were rationed and

coupons had to be produced for each”.

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In conclusion the final words must go to the author of those 1906 Westmeath Examiner

articles titled: “A Practical Industrial Effort” in praise of this unique establishment where it

was written:“All Industrial efforts should be well supported and of course there are others in

the Midlands. But in the case of Rochfort Bridge Institute it would be forgetful of the

character of the Irish people if the writer did not express the view that the fact that at the

Institute the best of work of a most practical character is done by poor afflicted Irish girls,

will be a potent additional reason why the hearts of the people will expand towards them and

towards the good Nuns who live and labour for them and that they will order in future their

stockings, underware and a hundred and one other things from Rochfort Bridge Institute, and

at least give a fair trial to what is the work of their own race and is done, so to speak, at their

doors”. This final article in the “Westmeath Examiner”, dated 14th. April 1906 ran with the

following top caption: “An Interesting Institution”. It certainly was that.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. “The Annals of the Convent, (1862-1970)”:-

The Sisters of Mercy, Rochfortbridge, Co. Westmeath

2. Dunne, Danny:- “To Serve With Gladness”

Celebrating One Hundred And Fifty Years Of The Sisters Of Mercy Rochfortbridge

Turners Printing, Longford, 2012

3. History Ireland Magazine:- “Political Priests: the Parnell split in Meath”

Issue No.2. March \ April, 2010

4. www.censusnationalarchives.ie

5. www.irishnewsarchive.com

“The Westmeath Examiner” Dated:- 25\02\1905

“The Westmeath Examiner” Dated:- 31\03\1906

“The Westmeath Examiner” Dated:- 14\04\1906

“The Westmeath Examiner” Dated:- February, 1917

6. Yeats, W.B.:- “The Collected Poems” Macmillan & Co Ltd. London, 1963

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the Art, English, Geography and Home Economics

Departments in the school for their help in putting this essay together.

In particular we would like to thank the Sisters of Mercy, Rochfortbridge for their kind

permission to view the Annals of the Convent and for allowing us to reproduce some extracts

from them here for inclusion in this study.

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