Boarding school misery captured beautifully by Ivan Yates

Reading extracts from Ivan Yates’ autobiography brought back unpleasant memories of my own boarding school years, from 1958 to 1969. As Ivan says, the ethos of the boarding school, back then, and its treatment of small boys, seems incredible by today’s standards. The worst aspect of it was the constant fear.

In 1968, as a very young boy, Ivan Yates was sent to a boarding school in Bray. In 1958, as a very young boy, I was sent to a boarding school in Dublin.

Every detail of Ivan’s boarding school years of misery, outlined in his book, I can fully relate to.