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 Page 1 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.” St. Joseph’s Institute for Deaf Mutes c.1900 St. Joseph’s Secondary School 2015 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. Dr. Thomas Nulty Bishop of Meath (1864-1898) Page 2 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” Charles Stewart Parnell (1845-1891) 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 Mother M. Stanilaus O’Neill 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. “Westmeath Examiner” 1917 Page 3 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). A sample of “Rochfortbridge Lace” 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 The Sisters of Mercy Rochfortbridge Convent c.1897 District Registry Back r ow, from left to right, Sr.Gertrude Smith, of the King’s Bench”. 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. Rev. Mathew Hynes Bequest 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. A newspaper advertisement, June, 1925 Page 4 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. Extract from the Annals of the Convent No.1. 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”.