Boystown founder 'did not condemn reform schools'
Writing in the current edition of 'History Ireland', Dr Daire Keogh, of St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin, attacks Mary Raftery, producer of the programme States of Fear.
The claim is that Boystown founder Fr Edward Flanagan condemned industrial and reform schools in Ireland in an "unprecedented" manner.
Dr Keogh writes: "Father Edward Flanagan delivered no such censure while in Ireland".
He writes that during his trip to Ireland, Fr Flanagan visited two industrial schools, St Patrick's in Belfast and Artane in Dublin.
He praised both institutions.
Fr Flanagan praised the De La Salle Brothers who ran St Patrick's for "doing such fine work for the education, comfort and rehabilitation of the boys".
He said the boys at Artane were receiving "magnificent training" from the Christian Brothers.
However, he did complain that conditions at the institutions were primitive by American standards and that they should have been better funded by the Government.
Fr Flanagan instead reserved his criticism for the Irish prison system.
He repeated this criticism in America, much to the anger of the Irish political establishment.
Dr Keogh is currently working on a history of the Christian Brothers.
He told the Irish Independent that he accepts abuses did actually take place in some Church-run institutions for children in Ireland.
However, he called for proper, accurate and rigorous use of historical materials.
The first Boystown was founded by Fr Flanagan, in Omaha, Nebraska, US, in 1917.
The aim of the institution was to rehabilitate rather than punish the juvenile delinquents.
The Irish-born priest then established a network of the homes around the US.
Fr Flanagan's motto was 'there is no such thing as a bad boy'.
Fr Flanagan was immortalised by the actor Spencer Tracey in the 1938 film, Boystown.
- David Quinn Religious Affairs Correspondent
