| Brief History | The Annual Report of the Child Welfare Department indicated in 1920 that St Kevin’s was established in 1897. During the years 1920 to 1922, the number of children resident at June 30th were reported in the Annual Reports of the Department. These were as follows:
1920: 22 children; 1921: 16 children; 1922: 16 children discharged, with no children resident at year end.
“A Piece of the Story”, the National Directory of Records of Catholic Organisations Caring for Children Separated from Families ( www.catholicsocialservices.org.au/storage/A%20Piece%20of%20the%20Story.pdf ) reports that St Kevin’s “ceased operation on 4th August 1921. The remaining 16 boys who were under 14 were transferred to the Christian Brothers School at Clontarf.”
The following history is quoted from the website of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate:
“Conditions at Glenadlough were severe in the early days. Daniel Howard, not in the best of health, reflected some of the problems of the community in colourful but unconventional language:
We have to go two miles to Mass. Fr Dan O’Ryan comes out here once a week to hear our confessions. The land here is not much good except small patches it would not feed many cattle, except the Oblates can sell some of it for building purposes it will never pay. Food and wages are so high here. The industrial school will never pay except the Government subscribes more money than it does at present. Land Land Land Bush Bush Bush. Flys (sic) and Frogs are the principal things here.we planted some potatoes but they refused to grow except a small patch. "
However a more optimistic note was struck by Michael Boland a few months later. Although the four brothers were still inhabiting the ‘old shanty’ they would be moving into the new building in a few weeks time, even though there is no finance to provide furnishings. They were determined to ‘take in boys and make a show’:
"We are getting on first rate at St Kevin’s our friends are very good to us we are stocking the farm quietly and cheaply we got a cow and chaff from one friend, a splendid cow in calf from another, a pair of hens & two clutches of chickens from an old woman . . .I got a horse & saddle from another friend so we have two horses now to till our garden.
The farm is not so bad so far for the first year, we did pretty well, some of the crops failed as we put them in at the wrong time. The Bishop was out a few days ago to see the house he was very well pleased with it. it is a splendid house and the stone is very fine and it is very costly. I fear we wont have much room in it if we get many boys. "
However Boland went on to be mildly critical of the house which he thought ‘a grand house and a strong one’ but he would have preferred a ‘plainer’ one. Howard, always one with a word of criticism, thought it was built ‘more for show than utility’. The new establishment was opened on Monday November 22nd 1898 by the Premier, Sir John Forrest. A large number of visitors attended. The two miles from Subiaco railway station being ‘one stretch of heavy sand’, the Oblates ‘had prepared for their visitors, and a number of drags were consequently in readiness to convey parties to the institution.’ The Superior, Daniel O’Ryan professed a willingness to work with the government and be open to government inspection. As regards personnel:
we do not begin the work as experimenters or novices. We begin the work with trained brothers. Brothers who have had years’ experience in institutions of the same kind in the Old Country, where we have four such institutions in our hands.
The mutual congratulations appropriate to the occasion disguised the tensions and pressures on the Oblate community. However some help was forthcoming when the government granted 2/- per day for each boy, more than was expected. Personnel always posed a problem. O’Ryan’s demands for help were clear:
I wrote to you about two French Brothers. Send me one only and send him as soon as you can. One with a knowledge of gardening and vines.
The French brother did not arrive. In fact the Oblates were generous with personnel for so small a number of boys, when compared with the Irish industrial schools: 285 at Philipstown and 190 at Glencree. Daniel Howard’s continuing though mellowing criticisms adequately reflected these pressures on personnel. In 1899 he lamented that there had not been an Oblate priest there to say Mass on the two previous Sundays. The local Superior had been suffering from typhoid fever for the past three months and there was simply no one available to take his place. Not for the first (or last) time personnel resources seemed stretched beyond what was reasonable.
The progress of the institution was at best precarious, though Howard was hardly justified in his complaint that the Oblates were ‘neglecting’ Glendalough. The investment of personnel and finance was already considerable. However help was not always as quickly forthcoming as desired. We gain a glimpse into the finances of the venture from the Superior Daniel O'Ryan who expressed annoyance at having to repeat information to the Provincial in Ireland. Despite promises given, no money had been sent out from Ireland for the building. Eventually when ‘face to face with eternal disgrace’ the Fremantle Oblate community paid two thousand, six hundred and ten pounds for the building at Glendalough. This, of course, was in accordance with the decision of the former Provincial, and in the spirit of Bishop Gibney’s original concept that the Oblates came primarily to take charge of the Industrial School. From the beginning it had been appreciated that the venture would need support, as Fr Gaughren admitted:
With a small number of boys - very likely small boys who can do little work - the government grant will hardly suffice to pay all establishment charges.
The Cardinal however assures me that whatever is wanting will be easily found amongst the charitable people of the colony. We accept his assurance and trust in Providence.
The high hopes were not easily fulfilled. The progress of the venture was adversely affected by the economic depression and the government grant for the boys had been halved from two shillings per day to one.
However much effort went into financing the industrial school. Generous help eventually came from the home province. By the turn of the century Glendalough owed over three thousand pounds to the British Province. The venture continued to be subsidized by the British Province, for some years they gave an interest free loan of 1743-11-4 Stg., and from 1906 they asked for interest. The Church in this country long continued to be dependent upon the home countries for finance and personnel, a factor clearly reflected in Oblate experience. Efforts were also made to raise finance locally. In 1905 Fr John Flynn held a bazaar in Perth Town Hall, lasting 10 days, which realised the handsome sum of 480 pounds, and another 320 pounds had been collected already.
The industrial school needed more Brothers, especially a tailor, and some money would be needed to provide a well. O’Ryan ended his bristling, if informative letter, offering his resignation as Superior of Glendalough. Charles Cox, the Provincial, was not a man to mince words and he forwarded the letter to the Superior General with marginal notes worthy of any school master. Cox thought the letter displayed no ‘obedience...patience or willingness to admit the possibility of any views but his own.’
O’Ryan was certainly an irascible man, and was not always very tolerant. The brothers worked long hours and he gives us a partial glimpse of this:
On Sundays Brother Boland takes charge of the boys from 9 o’clock to twelve in the morning. Brother Lalor from two to five in the evening: Brother Nolan from 7 to 8.30 at night. Brother Tuite has to look after dormitories and Brother Howard sees to the Refectory and washing up. The other hours of the day are taken up with Mass, Catechism - one hour, meals etc.
Glendalough was clearly a seven day a week task. That level of commitment to work was common for religious in those days. Thanks to the hard work and dedication the venture prospered in many ways. There was hope of increased government aid, and the Director of Public Works granted one thousand pounds for a road. Father Flynn spent 11 years as superior and manager of the school, and the establishment seemed to settle down to perform its function. The Vicar of Missions, Charles Cox, succeeded as superior in 1911, an indication of its significance in Oblate eyes. At this stage there were 10 boys on the government list, and 21 sent by their parents (‘with or without payment’), and the staff consisted of the superior, four brothers, a house-keeper and two lads working on the farm (one of these being an ‘ex boarder’). Charles Cox preached a retreat to the boys, and six boys made their first Holy Communion….
After initial misunderstandings and the hard task of getting the project underway, Glendalough settled down to perform its task. John Flynn (1869-1942) who had come to Fremantle in 1899 was superior of Glendalough from 1900 to 1911. Reputed to be a man of ‘kindly and unselfish nature’ he was particularly kind to the poor and sick. His dedication and that of these early pioneers is clear from a note from a later Provincial, Joseph Scannell to Eugene Callan that ‘he (Flynn) had no holiday from 1904-1921.’ Unlike his predecessor, the volatile Daniel O’Ryan, he seemed admirably suited to lead the industrial school. That task certainly continued to be a daunting one. Repeated efforts to re-claim the swamp by draining it into the lake cost much time, effort and money. The most severe blow fell in May 1913 when the boys not on the government list were sent through the State Children’s Department to Clontarf orphanage. Shortly after the difficult decision was made to terminate the dairy industry because of fewness of boys, cost of hired labour and the difficulty of satisfying the Government Health Office. But every effort was made to preserve and consolidate St Kevin’s. In July 1913 the government certified the institution as an orphanage. The General Administration (no less) approved the installation of electricity, 42 an indication of the extent to which centralised government effected far flung missions. The economy of the institution was aided by the leasing of part of the 300 acre property to tenant farmers.
With the coming of Fr Thomas Hayes as superior and director in 1915, things changed: the community now rose at 5.30 am rather than 6.00 am. The number of ‘absconders’ apparently decreased and ‘almost half the boys were allowed home for Christmas’. We have details of the ‘annual river trip’. But in its short career, St.Kevin’s was always a struggling concern: on its records are some 241 boys of whom 22 were boarders and 219 convicted cases.
The efforts to save Glendalough were not succeeding and in 1914 Archbishop Clune suggested the Oblates sell Glendalough, as it would be redundant with changes in government policy for juvenile offenders. Once again there were protracted quibbles about ownership of property. The effort made to save Glendalough by having it classified as an orphanage, aroused the Archbishop’s suspicion as he thought it merely a ruse. The move was in fact suggested by the Secretary to the Government Department. The Archbishop was keen to see it closed, though he wanted to keep the land for an Agricultural College while the Oblates kept the debt. The matter was finally settled with the sale of the school to the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1921. Given the small population of the colony, it is little wonder that Glendalough at its peak only numbered about 70 boys. With a change in government policy the number dropped to 14.” |