Protestant Childrens Homes

Jellybaby1

Does anyone know where I can get a list of Protestant childrens' homes please? I don't know dates, names or areas as yet.

KildareFan

I don't have a list, but the one I know of is the Smyly homes, which still exists - see http://www.smylytrust.ie/index.php?page=history. They operated a number of homes, including the Birds Nest in Dun Laoghaire.

Two children of my great great aunt were put in Smyly homes in 1901 and were then sent off to Canada in 1906, along with thousands of other 'home children' - a ship called the Tunisian was chartered to carry those children over to Canada. There's a haunting photo of the home children arriving at http://www.bytown.net/homekids.htm

The daughter of one of those children [my 2nd cousin once removed], now almost 80 was in Ireland this summer. It was chilling to hear about the experience of the home children when they got to Canada. Many were neglected, forced to work in farms in the Canadian winter without proper food or clothing, and denied education. They were blamed for everything and often shunned by local families. On the other hand, people like my ancestor worked out ok; she had to do domestic chores for her family, but they educated her and treated her as one of the family. Still, she was very bitter about what had happened to her - she and her brother were put in the home because their father was an invalid and the mammy had been put in prison for drink.

The homes were set up for benevolent purposes, and they argued that the children would have a better chance in Canada. They set up inspection systems in Canada, but these were easy to circumvent and children were often afraid to complain.

The Smyly trust gave some records to my cousins, including admission forms and a letter from the father. They said there were no other records.

pedroeibar1

I remember the Birds Nest in operation on York Rd - it was sold and converted years ago, one part is now for sale, see here for photos

Jellybaby1

Thanks, I hope someone else can direct me for more information on other homes. I know some children in the family were sent away, they are quite distant relatives but I still would like to pursue it, their mother had died very young and their father went to England to get work and travelled back and forth, I hope he kept in contact with them, I don't have the whole story yet. I think it would have been at the turn of the 20th century so they should turn up on 1901 census anyway.

shanew

some extracts from the 'Charitable & Benevolent Educational Institutions' Thom's 1914

"Mrs. Smyly's Homes and Schools for Necessitous Children, 1, Grattan St, Dublin
Boys' Home, Grand Canal St., accommodating 70 boys
Townsend street Schools and Girls' Home; accommodating 40 girls
Coombe Schools and Boys' Home , accommodating 55 boys
Emigration Fund and Hespeler Home, Ontario, over 100 under supervision
Elliott Home, 165, Townsend St., and Holiday Home, Abbeyview , Bray, accommodating 70 children
Bird's Nest Home , Kingstown , accommodating 200 children
Spiddal Orphanage, Sandycove, Co. Dublin, accommodating 40 boys
Girls' and Infants' Schools, Grand Canal St.
Lurgan-street Schools for Boys, Girls, and Infants.
In addition to the children in the eight Homes 400 others are daily supplied with food at the four Free Schools"

and a few other children homes / orphanages etc :

Protestant Orphan Society, 23 Molesworth St.
Female Orphan House for Destitute female Children, N.C.R.
Cottage Home for Little Children - Tivoli Rd., Kingstown
(described as for the reception of the very young children of the industrious Protestant poor)
also a Protestant Industrial School at Carysfort Ave. Blackrock
also the Masonic Orphan Schools - Ball's Bridge (girls) and Richview (boys)

Jellybaby1

Thanks for that list, great to have. Were they all in Dublin? I could be looking for 'maybe somewhere down the country' as I was told.

shanew

That section of Thom's is just Dublin Institutions. Directories for each area, or a National Directory like Slater's might give some starting point for those outside Dublin, but the latest edition of that was 1894 ..

I think narrowing down the location for this family might be the first step, maybe with the death of the mother, or the couple's marriage

Jellybaby1

Thanks for the pointers. I'm probably taking a step too far as they are very distant, but you know what its like, gotta keep digging!

shanew

If they lived in Dublin city then I think the Smyly homes might be the place to start, maybe for them somewhere like Bray would count as being 'down the country..', although the first thing I thought of when that was mentioned was an industrial school. I know that some children were sent great distances away from their homes to places like Letterfrack

Hopefully the 1901 and/or 1911 census might offer some clues..

Qualitymark

Don't forget the "industrial schools". Orphaned children and children whose families couldn't support them were routinely sent to these horrors. One was the "Meath" Industrial School for Protestant Boys in Blackrock, Co Dublin; there was an equivalent "Meath" Industrial School for Protestant Girls in Bray.

KildareFan

See list of industrial schools on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Schools_in_Ireland

Artane Industrial school, Dublin
Carriglea Park Industrial School, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin.
Meath Protestant Industrial School for Boys
Our Lady of Succour, Newtownforbes
Summerhill Industrial School, Dublin, Protestant run school.
Stilorgan Industrial School, Protestant run school (closed 1917).
St Aidan's Industrial School for Girls, New Ross County Wexford, run by the Good Shepherd Order of nuns.
St. Ann's Industrial School for Girls, Killarney, County Kerry
St. Anne's Industrial School for Girls, Booterstown, County Dublin
St. Anne's Reformatory School for Girls, Kilmacud, County Dublin
St. Ann's Industrial School for Girls and Junior Boys, Renmore, Lenaboy, County Galway
St. Augustine's Industrial School for Girls, Templemore, County Tipperary
St. Bernard's Industrial School for Girls, Fethard, Dundrum, County Tipperary
St. Bridgid's Industrial School for Girls, Loughrea, County Galway
St. Coleman's Industrial School for Girls, Cobh/Rushbrook, County Cork
St. Columba's Industrial School for Girls, Westport, County Mayo
St Columba's Industrial School for Boys, Killybegs, County Donegal
St. Conleth's Reformatory School for Boys, Daingean, County Offaly
St. Dominick's Industrial School for Girls, Waterford
St. Finbarr's Industrial School for Girls, Sundays Well, Marymount, Cork
St. Francis Xavier's Industrial School for Girls and Junior Boys, Ballaghadereen, County Roscommon
St. Francis' Industrial School for Girls, Cashel, County Tipperary
St. George's Industrial School for Girls, Limerick
St. John's Industrial School for Girls, Birr, County Offaly
St. Joseph's Industrial School, Letterfrack
St. Joseph's Industrial School, Whitehall, Dublin
St. Joseph's Industrial School, Kilkenny, Ireland
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Boys, Passage West, County Cork
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Boys, Tralee, County Kerry
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls and Junior Boys, Ballinasloe, County Galway
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls and Junior Boys, Clifden, County Galway
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls and Junior Boys, Liosomoine, Killarney, County Kerry
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls, Cavan
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls, Dundalk, County Louth
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls, Kilkenny
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls, Mallow, County Cork
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls, Summerhill, Athlone, County Westmeath
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Girls, Whitehall, Drumcondra, Dublin 9
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Senior Boys, Ferryhouse, Clonmel, County Tipperary
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Senior Boys, Glin, County Limerick
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Senior Boys, Greenmount, Cork
St. Joseph's Industrial School for Senior Boys, Salthill, County Galway
St. Joseph's Reformatory School for Girls, Limerick
St. Kyran's Industrial School for Junior Boys, Rathdrum, County Wicklow
St. Laurence's Industrial School for Girls, Sligo
St. Laurence's Industrial School, Finglas, Dublin 11
St. Martha's Industrial School for Girls, Bundoran, County Donegal
St. Mary's Industrial School, Lakelands, Sandymount, Dublin 4
St. Michael's Industrial School for Girls, Wexford
St. Michael's Industrial School for Junior boys, Cappoquin, County Waterford
St. Patrick's Industrial School, Kilkenny
St. Patrick's Industrial School, Upton
St. Vincent's (House of Charity) Industrial School for Junior Boys, Drogheda, County Louth
St. Vincent's Industrial School for Girls, Limerick
St. Vincent's Industrial School, Goldenbridge, Inchicore, Dublin 8

shanew

I found another listing in that Thom's for 'Reformatory and Industrial Schools' under 'Government Departments - Ireland', that has a list of these broken down by denomination. This includes just one Reformatory School 'for Protestant males', at Malone, Belfast and under Industrial Schools for Protestant males - one in Balmoral, Belfast, and the one in Blackrock, Co. Dublin mentioned above, and for females two in Belfast, and 'The Meath' in Bray. The rest of the list is of Industrial schools for Roman Catholics, just over 60 in total, and two thirds of these for females...

Qualitymark

That list doesn't seem to include Trim Industrial School, which had a girls' and a boys' section; a vile place from the sound of it, but a Catholic vile place so outside the remit of OP.

The lack of a listing for the Meath Protestant Industrial School in that 1894 Thom's is odd. The boys' school was founded by the Earl of Meath in 1872 and the girls' in 1892.

Jellybaby1

This 1901 census search gives a return for the workhouse in Trim which had a 'Return of Idiots and Lunatics' (such awful descriptions!), and they didn't list names, just initials. http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001132610/

They were Roman Catholic, and were totally invisible on the census, did the Protestant denominations use initials as well for childrens homes?

L1011

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

They were Roman Catholic, and were totally invisible on the census, did the Protestant denominations use initials as well for childrens homes?

I think this was a census requirement and not a decision of the institution.

Qualitymark

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

This 1901 census search gives a return for the workhouse in Trim which had a 'Return of Idiots and Lunatics' (such awful descriptions!), and they didn't list names, just initials. http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001132610/

They were Roman Catholic, and were totally invisible on the census, did the Protestant denominations use initials as well for childrens homes?

Oh well found! I couldn't for the life of me find them.

But wait, wait, that can't be the industrial school - the people in it are too old.

The 'Meath' Protestant Industrial School listed the boys by their full names:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Dublin/Blackrock_No__2/Carysfort_Avenue__Part_of/92141/

The poor little mites ranged upwards from seven years of age. As you'll see, the form filled out for this place (in the original, handwritten version) didn't have room for illnesses.

Gloomtastic!

Remember reading this article during the summer about a Protestant childrens home where all the kids were given the surname of the woman in charge - Mathers.

http://www.thejournal.ie/westbank-protestant-orphanage-1551863-Jul2014/

Jellybaby1

Qualitymark wrote: »

Oh well found! I couldn't for the life of me find them.

But wait, wait, that can't be the industrial school - the people in it are too old.

No, it wasn't an industrial school, it was the workhouse. So very sad. I wonder if we were to look into some centres in Ireland today, would we be entirely happy.