Once, the Christian Brothers wielded extraordinary power – not only over
the lives of the hundreds, if not thousands, of children they abused,
but over Ireland itself. Today there are only 250 people left in the
Irish order, with an average age of 74 – but its legacy still looms
large
It is not the memories of the kickings and lashings with a leather strap
that make Tom Hayes pause and choke and break down. Nor is it the
incessant bullying, the slave labour or the sexual abuse he suffered
after dark in the dormitory. The memory that turns the 63-year-old
former soldier's voice small with terror is one vivid image from his
eight years in Glin industrial school, Limerick. "The first time I saw
someone brought back to the school having absconded was one of the most
frightening things I've ever witnessed," he says. "His head was shaved
as punishment and then he took a really serious beating by two Christian
Brothers. I've never forgotten it."