Abuse survivor feels ‘free at last’ as letter clarifies record

A SURVIVOR of abuse in a Catholic industrial school has spoken of his delight at receiving a letter from Justice Minister Dermot Ahern formally stating that he has not, and never had, a criminal record.

Michael O’Brien, 75, who spent eight years in St Joseph’s School, Ferryhouse, Clonmel, in the 1930s and 1940s, where he suffered repeated sexual and physical abuse, said he felt a free man for the first time since his incarceration at the age of eight.

Michael was one of tens of thousands of children sent to industrial schools by order of the courts, who were often subsequently treated as having criminal records even though most were placed for welfare reasons. Furthermore, even those who had committed “crimes” such as truancy or theft were generally below the age of criminal responsibility.