Personal Stories/Opinions
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Dr. Daire Keogh - Father Flanagan
Paddy, congratulations on your web site. It is excellent.
I notice the material relating to my article on Father Flanagan in the Irish
Times and the response from Mr Lynch of Boys' Town.
The point of my article is quite clear; Father Flanagan publicly praised
the Industrial schools on many occasions during his visit to Ireland, but
in his subsequent confidential correspondence with Walter Mahon Smith he
was critical of the schools.
There was a huge contradiction between what he said publicly and privatly
on the issue and certainly the newspaper reports of his visit gave no impression
that he was unhappy with Artane. In fact, he made no public criticism of
the Industrial Schools - his anger was directed towards penal institutions,
borstals and reformatories. I invite your readers to look at the newspapers
for the summer of 1946 available to all in the National Library in Kildare
Street.
Rather than blowing the whistle on the Industrial schools, Flanagan's visit
to Artane and his subsequent praise of the school perpetuated the notion
that Artane was 'Ireland's Boys' Town'. How else could readers interpret
his references to 'the great work being done there by the good brothers'
and to the 'magnificent training' the boys received there(Irish Independent,
24 June 1946? I am not sure that if I was a poor kid in Artane in the summer
of 1946 I would have drawn any hope from the priest's visit.
I am very grateful, too, to those who have written to me about their experience
with the Christian Brothers. I will certainly keep it in mind as I research
their history.
Sincerely,
Daire Keogh
Dr Daire Keogh,
History Department,
St Patrick's College,
Drumcondra, Dublin 9
Tel 884 2102 Fax 8376197
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