A Tale Of Two Prisons

There is a prison called Mounjoy where inmates have no bars on their windows, have keys to their own rooms and can lock themselves in when they like. Breakfast is served in the morning and education classes start at 9am. There are classes offering the skills for fabrics, woodwork, computers and various other trades. Aside from good standard breakfast fare, there is a varied menu for dinner. On Sunday there are specials like roast chicken and vegetables, with a dessert of fruit and ice cream. After evening tea, there is access to a library, a recreation hall, table tennis and a gym. Bedtime rolls around at 9. 30pm. You can also write as many letters as you like and phone your solicitor as much as you want. Two visits a week are allowed and one personal phone call. There is also a counsellor at hand should you find the system too demanding. There is no common violence against residents by staff.  To reside in Mounty prison, you must have committed at least one crime, be an adult and your religion does not matter. 



One resident who had resided in this facility had already beaten an 81-year-old pensioner to death for the princely sum of €45 back in the year 2000. It seems the facilities may not have been up to his standard either for he decided to escape and did.

 

There was another prison in Galway called St. Josephs Industrial and Reformatory Institution where inmates had bars on their windows, and were warehoused in dormitories on lockdown every night by 9pm. Porridge was served every morning, and ‘special education’ started at 9am which was little or no education at all. There was no woodwork or other classes only religious ones; there was no library or gym. Sunday was as special as Monday and what barely edible food you could not hold down was fed to the obese pigs grunting expectantly nearby. If found to be wanting in your behaviour, you could be locked in a cell for twenty four hours on water and  gruel and beaten (you were going to get beaten one way or the other anyway). You could write letters but these were opened by the wardens dressed up as Christian Brothers, whether they were going out or coming in. There were no phone calls allowed, visits from family were rare and at the discretion of the head warden; common violence was used against the residents by the wardens only and was seen as ordinary. To reside there, you must have been a child not less than 6 years old and not older than sixteen years old, have committed no crime and must be a Catholic only. All of these terms and conditions came from just their and the Government's official rule book.  



Mountjoy Prison in Dublin is still open for business today and for the foreseeable future, where St Josephs Industrial Industrial for children, where I  resided for ten years, is not, and consigned mercifully to the past.  The last one of its kind closed in 1997. 

Barry Clifford

"Put Yourselves in Their Place"

Clarence Darrow in 1922

"Now, let us look at these fellows. Here were eleven coloured men, penned up in the house. Put yourselves in their place. Make yourselves coloured for a little while. It won’t hurt, you can wash it off later. They can’t, but you can; just make yourself black men for a little while; long enough, gentlemen, to judge them, and before any of you would want to be judged, you would want your juror to put himself in your place. That is all I ask in this case, gentlemen. They were black, and they knew the history of the black. 
      

Our friend makes fun of Dr. Sweet and Henry Sweet talking these things all over in the short space of two months. Well, gentlemen, let me tell you something, that isn’t evidence. This is just theory. This is just theory, and nothing else. I should imagine that the only thing that two or three coloured people talk of when they get together is race. I imagine that they can’t rub colour off their face or rub it out of their minds. I imagine that is it with them always. I imagine that the stories of lynching’s, the stories of murders, the stories of oppression is a topic of constant conversation. I imagine that everything that appears in the newspapers on this subject is carried from one to another until every man knows what others know, upon the topic which is the most important of all to their lives. 
       

What do you think about it? Suppose you were black. Do you think you would forget it even in your dreams? Or would you have black dreams? Suppose you had to watch every point of contact with your neighbour and remember your colour, and you knew your children were growing up under this handicap. Do you suppose you would think of anything else? 
      

Well, gentlemen, I imagine that a coloured man would think of that before he would think of where he could get bootleg whiskey, even. Do you suppose this boy coming in here didn’t know all about the conditions, and did not learn all about them? Did he not know about Detroit? Do you suppose he hadn’t read the story of his race? He is intelligent. He goes to school. He would have been a graduate now, except for this long hesitation, when he is waiting to see whether he goes back to college or goes to jail. Do you suppose that black students and teachers are discussing it?

***Extract from Clarence Darrow's closing defence speech in the Henry Sweet trial, who was defending a man charged with the murder of another when a mob had surrounded his house. Henry Sweet was an African American and the year was 1926
Barry

Joseph Goebbels: King Of The Fake News

“Whoever can conquer the street will one day conquer the state, for every form of power politics and any dictatorship-run state has its roots in the street.”

                             Joseph Goebbels: (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945)

             Head of enlightenment and Propaganda for the Nazi Government

“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place”

“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over again”

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” 

“Man is an animal. Here a beast of prey, there a house pet, but always an animal.”

“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.

“Success is the important thing. Propaganda is not a matter for average minds, but rather a matter for practitioners. It is not supposed to be lovely or theoretically correct. I do not care if I give wonderful, aesthetically elegant speeches, or speak so that women can cry. The point of a political speech is to persuade of what we think is right. I speak differently in the provinces than I do in Berlin, and when I speak in Bayreuth, I say different things than I do in Pharos Hall. That is a matter of practice to deceive not of theory. We do not want to be a movement of straw brains, but rather a movement that can conquer the broad masses. Propaganda should be popular and not intellectually pleasing. It is not the task of propaganda to discover intellectual truths.” 

Joseph Goebbels

Dublin still bears scars of the 1916 Rising over 100 years later

Poor Dublin children scavenging through rubble after the bombing.

Over a century has passed since Ireland’s monumental 1916 Easter Uprising took place on the streets of Dublin, and yet, the city still bears many of the scars as a result of the fighting between the Irish and British.

Expertise from author and Irish military historian Paul O’Brien, and Dr Joanna Brück, a reader in archeaology at University of Bristol and former senior lecturer at UCD’s School of Archaeology, shows the physical scars left by the 1916 Rising in Dublin - the hub of the rebellion.

The uprising began on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916. It was on that day that seven Irishmen proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic, with themselves as its government, and attempted to break away from British rule.

Involved were the Irish Volunteers, led by Pádraig Pearse, the much smaller Irish Citizen Army, led by James Connolly, and members of Cumann na mBan.

The Irish force numbered around 1,600 people and occupied buildings around Dublin’s city center, buildings that still hold the physical proof of the fighting that is over a century passed. 

The week-long uprising cost about 1,500 lives - mostly civilian - and left another 2,000 people wounded. It also left its mark upon many spots around Dublin which are still palpable today.

Scenes from the Easter Rising.

Mount Street bridge and Northumberland Road

O’Brien says that, “One of the biggest battles of the rising happened on that road.

“25 Northumberland Road was occupied by Lt Michael Malone of the Irish Volunteers. The schoolhouse was occupied by another group of volunteers as well.”

The old schoolhouse is still standing today, but has since been converted into The Schoolhouse hotel and restaurant.

The battle there occurred when members of the British 59th North Midlands Division ran into 17 volunteers who were positioned on that street. 214 British soldiers met their deaths.

“They had them in cross fire – the British didn’t know what direction they were coming from or what position the Irish had,” explained O’Brien. “That battlefield is still there bar one building that was burnt down and is now an office block.”

St. James Hospital

While most of the hospital in Dublin 8 today is new, the area around it was the site of “fierce battles,” according to O’Brien. 

“It was known as the South Dublin Union. It was a workhouse for the impoverished people. A man called Eamonn Ceannt was one of the Irish Volunteers and occupied the workhouse.

“The battlefield and the majority of the buildings are still there within the modern complex. You can see the nurse’s home; the convent is still there,” said O’Brien.

The Four Courts Area

“A lot of it was damaged or destroyed in the civil war – in relation to 1916, many battles took place in streets and alleyways behind the Four Courts,” said O’Brien. The area now is mostly new and rebuilt.

“Urban combat was very new to the British Army, and they had to adapt very quickly to what was happening in Dublin,” said O’Brien.

"One of the biggest battles in the area happened at North King St, and involved the Irish Volunteers and the British South Staffordshire regiment. The army suffered heavy casualties at that spot."

While many of the houses there were knocked down, some originals still remain. The Irish Volunteers occupied a public house at the junction of North King St called Reilly’s which is still standing, but under a different name. Similarly, the Capuchin hall, where Comdt Edward Daly set up his headquarters, is also standing.

Also near the Four Courts was a medical mission, where a group of British lancers took shelter after being intercepted making their way up the quays. This building still stands today, but “The whole front of that building is peppered with bullet holes.”

The Four Courts Building on the River Liffey in Dublin as it stands now.

St. Stephen’s Green

Now, a bustling hub for Dublin City, St. Stephen’s Green was used to dig trenches during 1916. 

“The rebels dug trenches, probably at the four entranceways and other places – the written sources aren’t very specific about where they were.” Dr. Brück added that with it being a Victorian park, the Irish Citizens Army takeover of the area was quite symbolic.

“The rebels took St Stephen’s Green over on Easter Monday,” said Dr Brück. “There has been debate over whether it was a strategically good location to take over or not. Some would say it was stupid to take over Stephen’s Green as it was looked over by different buildings and they didn’t have enough men to take control of buildings overlooking the green. Others would say there is a water source so that was good.”

"The rebels were led by Michael Mallin and Countess Markievicz - there is a limestone bust of Markievicz in the park today. There, they dug trenches and put barricades up around entrances and smaller entrances in the park, and also commandeered passing vehicles to help them in their task," said Dr Brück.

O’Brien added that “one photograph taken of the trenches for a newspaper at the time showed them facing straight down Dawson St.”

Today, you can see pock-marks and bullet holes on the Fusilier’s arch at the entrance to St Stephen’s Green.

Shelbourne Hotel

Still a popular spot in Dublin today, The Shelbourne Hotel became a takeover spot for British forces beginning on Easter Monday in 1916. At first light, they began shooting at the rebels from the windows of the hotel.

The soldiers barricaded downstairs in the Shelbourne, and some guests were wounded by fire from the rebels in the park. The guests were moved to the rear of the building to avoid more injury.

While the inside has since been refurbished, the outside of The Shelbourne remains the same as it was back then

Royal College of Surgeons

“The buildings they took over were very symbolic,” said Dr Brück, "with this spot being no exception. Irish rebels retreated to here and remained there until they surrendered on the Sunday. The masonry outside the college today still bears the pockmarks of bullets exchanged between the Irish and British."

Members of the Irish Republican Army during the 1916 Easter Rising.

GPO (General Post Office)

This landmark on O’Connell Street, then called Sackville Street, served as headquarters for the Irish Volunteers during the Uprising. Though it was burned down during the week of rebellion, its remaining facade bears the scars of bullet holes still visible today.

GPO during the Easter Rising.

Kerry O’ Shea

For the love of Gauis Plinius Caecilius Secundis-AD 100

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (A.D. 61/62-c. 113) Roman lawyer and writer known as Pliny the Younger, left a collection of letters that gives the most complete picture available of public and private life in Rome at the end of the 1st century.

He was born in northern Italy at Novum Comum (now Como) and adopted as heir by his uncle, the scientist and historian Pliny the Elder. Practicing law from the age of 18, his honesty and financial skills brought him success in inheritance cases and as the prosecutor of corrupt officials.

c. A.D. 100

"You say that you are feeling my absence very much, and your only comfort when I am not there is to hold my writings in your hand and often put them in my place by your side. I like to think that you miss me and find relief in this sort of consolation. I, too, am always reading your letters, and returning to them again and again as if they were new to me — but this only fans the fire of my longing for you. If your letters are so dear to me, you can imagine how I delight in your company; do write as often as you can, although you give me pleasure mingled with pain."

Photo Minute: This is England

The secret to raising an honest child

The secret to raising an honest child: Hold your tongue if they admit they have done something wrong 

• A new study looked into how children feel about lying and honesty

• They told stories to kids involving doing something wrong 

• Kids aged 4-5 are more likely to think lying is a good idea than those aged 7-

• Those who are less honest also expect parents to react badly to lies

When your child does something wrong, the natural way to react might be to lose your temper.

But getting angry may do more harm than good, according to a recent study.

Children are more likely to tell the truth when they expect their parents to react positively, even if they know they are going to get punished.

"When your child does something wrong, the natural way to react might be to lose your temper. But getting angry may do more harm than good, according to a recent study 

When your child does something wrong, the natural way to react might be to lose your temper. But getting angry may do more harm than good, according to a recent study (stock image)

Understanding how children perceive lying and honesty can give important insights into a child's behaviour.

To explore this, researchers from the University of Michigan looked into what kind of feelings children have about lying and confessing when they have done something wrong.

Dr Craig Smith, from the Center for Human Growth and Development, presented a group of four to nine-year-olds with a series of hypothetical questions told through different stories.

In each situation, the children had done something wrong then either lied about it or confessed.

‘In one story the transgressor stole candy from a friend, and in the other story the transgressor pushed a child to the ground in order to obtain a playground swing,’ the authors wrote in the study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 

In half of each of the stories, the main character told the truth about what they had done and in the other half, they lied.

Children are more likely to tell the truth when they expect their parents to react positively, even if they know they are going to get punished (stock image)

The researchers asked how the kids felt during and after reading each story, focusing on how they thought the characters felt and why they did what they did.

Afterwards, they asked about the characters’ parents and how they expected them to react, while also interviewing the children’s mothers in real life about how honest their children are.

The children aged four and five were more likely to think positively about lying and negatively about confessing, while the seven to nine year olds understood better that lying is wrong.

HOW CHILDREN LEARN TO LIE 

 A study published in October last year found kids’ perception of truth and lies changes as they get older.

Researchers from McGill University analyzed the behaviour of nearly 100 children between the ages of six and 12.

Overall, the children were easily able to distinguish between truth and lies, regardless of age.

In deciding which behaviours to reward or condemn, the researchers noted two significant differences among the age groups.

When assessing a ‘false confession’ scenario, in which a character would claim responsibility for another character’s misdeed to spare the real perpetrator, the younger children were more likely to view this as negative behaviour than older kids.

A similar trend was seen in the case of tattling.

While younger children were less concerned with the negative consequences of truth-telling, older children were often conflicted.

‘Looking at how children see honesty and deceit is a way of gaining insight into different stages of moral and social development,’ said Victoria Talwar, a Canada Research Chair in McGill’s Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.

This means, even if they believe they could be punished, shows older kids are more likely than younger children to view confessing to a misdeed as the right thing to do.

But this does not mean little kids do not experience guilt or understand lying is wrong, the researchers say.

Instead, they are more likely to lie because they expect their parents to react badly.

‘Children who anticipated that an authority figure would be upset following a child’s confession were rated by their own parents as less likely to confess compared with children who expected an authority figure to be pleased by a child’s decision to confess,’ the authors wrote.

This means, kids who think their honesty is going to be met with a positive reaction, even if they will still be punished, are more likely to tell the truth, the researchers say.

One sure way to guarantee a child will not confess is to ‘bite the kid's head off immediately,’ Dr Smith said.

‘It goes along with the larger picture of being approachable as a parent,’ he said.

‘Convey that you're going to listen without getting angry right away,’ Dr Smith added.

‘As a parent, you might not be happy with what your child did, but if you want to keep an open line of communication with your child you can try to show them that you're happy that your child has told you about it.’ 

Abigail Beall