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For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications Irish Childcare, 1850-1913: Attitudes and Approaches by Cecilia Hallström Parker A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History, University of Warwick, Department of History, September 2016 Content List of figures i List of tables iii List of illustrations iv Acknowledgements v Declaration vii Abstract viii List of abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The context of child welfare, 1850-1913 29 Chapter 2: The debate over the workhouse child: the ………………………. Cork inquiry 1859 and the South Dublin Riot 1860 69 Chapter 3: Boarding out 118 Chapter 4: Reformatories and industrial schools 151 Chapter 5: Legislation and its changing context: circa ……………………… 1870-1913 208 Conclusion 261 Appendix A: Seasonal variations in the number of …………………… workhouse children, 1859-1913 270 Bibliography 273 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Number of children in workhouses, 1850-1913 Figure 1.2 Children in Ireland aged 1-14, 1851-1911 Figure 1.3 Deceased workhouse children, 1904/05 – 1913/14 Figure 1.4 Time lapsed between admission and death, age 0-15, for the year ended 16 April 1859 Figure 1.5 Time lapsed between admission and death, age 0-2, for the year ended 16 April 1859 Figure 1.6 Cause of death for children in Dr Brodie’s district for the year ended 16 April 1859 Figure 1.7 Categories of workhouse children, 1849-1907 Figure 3.1 Number of boarded-out children, and their gender, on the last Saturday of each year, 1863-1913 Figure 3.2 Children in workhouse care and percentage thereof boarded out, 1863- 1913 Figure 3.3 Destination of boarded-out children, 1862-1873 Figure 4.1 Number of children in reformatories on 31 December split by gender, 1860-1913 Figure 4.2 Number of children in industrial schools on 31 December split by religion, 1869-1913 Figure 4.3 Gender distribution of industrial school children, 1869-1913 Figure 4.4 Number of children in workhouses, reformatories, and industrial schools at the end of each year, 1869-1913 Figure 4.5 Destination of girls discharged from industrial schools, 1870-1913 i Figure 4.6 Destination of boys discharged from industrial schools, 1870-1913 Figure 4.7 Destination of girls discharged from reformatories, 1870-1913 Figure 4.8 Destination of boys discharged from reformatories, 1870-1913 ii List of Tables Table 1.1 Table showing total number of children relieved, deceased and percentage thereof split by age group for the year ended 16 April 1859 Table 1.2 Children in orphan asylums, 1871-1911 Table 2.1 Condition on admission of deceased children split by age group for the year ended 16 April 1859 iii List of Illustrations Illustration 1 Photograph of child with scrofula. From Byrom Bramwell, Atlas of Clinical Medicine, (1893). From National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, USA. Photograph available online at http://radiopaedia.ord/cases/scrofula-photo iv Acknowledgments The completion of this PhD thesis would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of the people around me. First and foremost among these people is my supervisor, Professor Maria Luddy, who has patiently guided me through this process and has allowed me to benefit from her immense knowledge of Irish social history. She has not only motivated and challenged me, but has also had the ability to put things into perspective when I, occasionally, have lost mine. I could not have asked for a better supervisor. I also wish to express my gratitude to the various archives, and their staff, that I have visited as part of my PhD research. My work relies heavily on archival research and I am very grateful for the assistance I have received at the National Archives of Ireland and the Cork City and County Archives. The staff at the Cottage Home, Dun Laoghaire, was extremely generous with their archival material and provided me with more material than I had even asked for. Noelle Dowling, archivist at the Dublin Diocesan Archives, deserves a special mention for the invaluable, and always friendly, assistance she provided me with when I visited the Diocesan Archives. My friends and family have been a seemingly endless source of support and by now probably know more about Irish childcare than they ever wanted to! I am thankful to my friend Isobel Lindsay-McElhinney for her proofreading services as well as her willingness to listen to various PhD-related issues. Without the emotional and financial support of my parents I would never have been able to pursue this PhD. I cannot adequately express how grateful I am that they have made it possible for me to fulfil this childhood dream. Last, but not least, my husband Ben has lived with this v PhD for the past five years and knows better than anyone the effort that has gone into completing it. His assistance with the compilation, presentation, and interpretation of statistical data has been vital. But, even more importantly, his unwavering love and support made me believe I could actually do it. vi Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis, ‘Irish Childcare, 1850 – 1913: Attitudes and Approaches’, has been written by me and that it has not been submitted for a degree at another university. Cecilia Hallström Parker vii Abstract During the period 1850-1913 the landscape of Irish childcare witnessed significant changes. The Famine left thousands of children orphaned or deserted in Irish workhouses and Ireland was forced to confront the question of how best to raise these children of the poor to be respectable and self-sufficient adults. The period was defined by attempts to answer this question and by 1913 a new system for such care was in place. This was a system dominated by a belief in institutionalisation, mainly in industrial schools, of children as beneficial both to the children and to Irish society, and driven by a fear and mistrust of the poor as parents. The developments during 1850-1913 have not previously been examined in a coherent and cohesive manner. This thesis aims to do so, thus adding to the understanding of the attitudes and approaches to childcare for the poor in Ireland. The thesis will also make use of quantitative analysis in a manner not previously done in order to understand the evolution and development of childcare institutions. The first chapter focuses on the Irish Poor Law, its relation to children, and the development of voluntary, charitable childcare institutions. The second chapter examines the increasing criticism against workhouse care through two case studies. The third chapter explores the rejection of foster-care in Ireland in the form of boarding out from workhouses. The fourth chapter analyses the rise of the reformatories and industrial schools managed largely by the Catholic Church. The final chapter explores how the increasing interest and concern for the children of the poor resulted in the development of an increasingly extensive framework of legislation that, by 1913, touched on almost all aspects of the lives of the children of the poor and their families. viii List of abbreviations CCCA – Cork City and County Archives CH – The Cottage Home CIF – Crime Index Files CRF – Convict Reference Files CSORP – Chief Secretary’s Office Registered Papers DDA – Dublin Diocesan Archive DIS – Day industrial schools ICM – Irish Church Mission ILP Act – Infant Life Protection Act IPP - Irish Parliamentary Party IRIS – Inspector appointed to visit the Reformatory and Industrial Schools of Ireland LGB – Local Government Board NAI – National Archive of Ireland NSPCC – National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children PAD – Philanthropic Association of Dublin PLC - Poor Law Commission PRA – Philanthropic Reform Association SDU – South Dublin Union ix Introduction During the second half of the nineteenth-century, the provisions for childcare in Ireland underwent remarkable changes. Following the devastating Great Famine, at the end of December 18501, an extremely high number of children, 88,528, found themselves as inmates of Irish workhouses.2 At this point, the workhouse was the main institution providing care to pauper children and dominated the childcare landscape. Furthermore, other than caring for the children of the poor in the workhouse, the State largely avoided interfering or intervening in their upbringing. However, only fifty years later, by the early twentieth century, the scope of childcare and welfare had expanded considerably. Not only did the State play a more active role, but the Catholic Church had become the main provider of childcare in Ireland. The workhouse had virtually ceased to be an institution caring for children and instead a network of industrial schools financially provided for by the State, underpinned by extensive child legislation, and largely managed and controlled by the Catholic Church dominated the childcare system. The Irish reliance on industrial schools in the twentieth century has been well established by historians but transition of the children of the poor from the workhouse to the industrial school during the second half of the nineteenth century has been less well examined. The post-Famine period witnessed a national discussion in Ireland on how best to raise the children of the poor who found themselves orphaned or abandoned in Irish workhouses.