Books that Feature Physical Abuse in Irish Schools
"Lamb" by Bernard MacLaverty: Explores the abuse and harsh discipline in a Catholic institution.
"Fear of the Collar" by Patrick Touher: A memoir detailing the brutal treatment in Artane Industrial School run by the Christian Brothers.
"Suffer the Little Children" by Mary Raftery and Eoin O'Sullivan: Investigates the systemic abuse in Ireland's Industrial Schools
"The Yew-Tree at the Head of the Strand" by Brian Cosgrove: Recounts experiences of corporal punishment at a Christian Brothers school.
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce: This novel includes scenes of corporal punishment in an Irish school setting.
The Irish Gulag - Arnold, Bruce. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 2009.Google Scholar
The Best Catholics in the World - Scally gives voice and definition to the murky and difficult questions that face a society coming to terms with its troubling past. It is both a lively personal odyssey and a resonant and gripping work of reporting that is a major contribution to the story of Ireland.
On my first day there I sat with the other new boys in solemn silence while a red-haired master reached into an immensely deep pocket and brought out lovingly a leather strap.
"Say hello," he said, to teacher's pet.
The thing lolled in his hand like a parched and blackened tongue. Each boy could hear his neighbour swallow. Suddenly all of life up to this seemed a heedless, half-drunk frolic.
