A man and woman have told the Northern Ireland's historical institutional abuse inquiry how their separate experiences in residential homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth in Derry damaged them as children and adults.
A 58-year-old woman said that nuns in Nazareth House in Derry refused to believe her when she told them she was sexually abused as a young girl.
She told the inquiry in Banbridge, Co Down, yesterday the abuse occurred when she spent time on placement from Nazareth House on two farms when she was about 11 or 12 years of age.
A man on the first farm abused her a “few” times. She remembered a particular incident when that man got into the bed between her and another girl from Nazareth House but the man’s wife came in and told him to “get out”.
She described the incident on the second farm when the owner tried to abuse her. On that occasion she ran away. “I got to hell out of there,” she said.
The witness said that when she complained to the nuns back in Nazareth House, they did not believe her and told her not to be talking “nonsense”. The witness said there was one “cruel” nun who often beat her and the other girls.
She described one occasion when she struck her with a “black belt she wore around her waist” and another when she was “whacking” her with a stick. She was “black and a blue”.
A PE teacher at the school she attended noticed this and asked her did she want to talk about it. But she said no, because I “would be killed if I do”.
The woman also told how she learned that a girl in Nazareth House, who was six years older than her, was her sister.
When she left the home aged about 16 she visited the witness about three times but then the visits stopped.
The witness described how for years she has been unsuccessfully attempting to trace her sister. During the course of that search she discovered she had a brother and two other sisters who weren’t put into care but were minded by her grandmother. She now had a relationship with her siblings and their families.
She said 100 girls “would queue up for two baths”. There was “no privacy” and the “water was never changed”. The witness said two nuns had been kind but there were others who were cruel. “I could have done better with my life . . . they ruined my life,” she said.
The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry has heard claims that a child was forced to perform oral sex on a nun.
A witness, who was a resident at Nazareth House in Derry’s Bishop Street during the 1960s, said she was between the ages of four and five when she was made to lie on her back on the floor by a nun who **edited** forced the child to perform a sex act on her. She said she was terrified.
She told the inquiry she reported the incident to another nun some time later. The witness, who cannot be identified, said the nun did get back to her, but now denies this ever happened.
“She said to me – she would have remembered if something like this had have been said – but I would swear on the Bible that this conversation took place,” she said.
Kathleen Forrest, a ministry of home affairs inspector, said in a 1953 report: "I find these homes utterly depressing and it appalls me to think that these hundreds of children are being reared in bleak lovelessness."
The inquiry is examining the treatment of girls and boys at 13 residential institutions across Northern Ireland since the foundation of the state.
The witness told of frequent beatings by the more senior girls and alleged repeatedly that nuns looked on without preventing abuse. She had entered the home, she said, because her parents were not married.
On one occasion she told the inquiry panel she was forced by other girls to eat her own vomit having got sick during a meal. She complained of being constantly cold and hungry. She said that due to thirst, she would often drink rainwater from a drain.
She told the inquiry that when she began having periods she was only given two sanitary towels per day, morning and evening. The witness said that as she was only given one pair of pants per week, she used to wash her pair out daily and try to get them to dry overnight.
“They were always soaking, but at least they were clean,” she said.
She further told the inquiry that while there were many beatings in the home, one nun showed her great kindness and tried to look after her when she was taken ill.
She said the atmosphere was always better at Christmas.
A 58-year-old woman said that nuns in Nazareth House in Derry refused to believe her when she told them she was sexually abused as a young girl.
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| Nazareth House, Londonderry, NI |
A man on the first farm abused her a “few” times. She remembered a particular incident when that man got into the bed between her and another girl from Nazareth House but the man’s wife came in and told him to “get out”.
She described the incident on the second farm when the owner tried to abuse her. On that occasion she ran away. “I got to hell out of there,” she said.
The witness said that when she complained to the nuns back in Nazareth House, they did not believe her and told her not to be talking “nonsense”. The witness said there was one “cruel” nun who often beat her and the other girls.
She described one occasion when she struck her with a “black belt she wore around her waist” and another when she was “whacking” her with a stick. She was “black and a blue”.
A PE teacher at the school she attended noticed this and asked her did she want to talk about it. But she said no, because I “would be killed if I do”.
The woman also told how she learned that a girl in Nazareth House, who was six years older than her, was her sister.
When she left the home aged about 16 she visited the witness about three times but then the visits stopped.
The witness described how for years she has been unsuccessfully attempting to trace her sister. During the course of that search she discovered she had a brother and two other sisters who weren’t put into care but were minded by her grandmother. She now had a relationship with her siblings and their families.
She said 100 girls “would queue up for two baths”. There was “no privacy” and the “water was never changed”. The witness said two nuns had been kind but there were others who were cruel. “I could have done better with my life . . . they ruined my life,” she said.
The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry has heard claims that a child was forced to perform oral sex on a nun.
A witness, who was a resident at Nazareth House in Derry’s Bishop Street during the 1960s, said she was between the ages of four and five when she was made to lie on her back on the floor by a nun who **edited** forced the child to perform a sex act on her. She said she was terrified.
“She said to me – she would have remembered if something like this had have been said – but I would swear on the Bible that this conversation took place,” she said.
Kathleen Forrest, a ministry of home affairs inspector, said in a 1953 report: "I find these homes utterly depressing and it appalls me to think that these hundreds of children are being reared in bleak lovelessness."
The witness told of frequent beatings by the more senior girls and alleged repeatedly that nuns looked on without preventing abuse. She had entered the home, she said, because her parents were not married.
On one occasion she told the inquiry panel she was forced by other girls to eat her own vomit having got sick during a meal. She complained of being constantly cold and hungry. She said that due to thirst, she would often drink rainwater from a drain.
She told the inquiry that when she began having periods she was only given two sanitary towels per day, morning and evening. The witness said that as she was only given one pair of pants per week, she used to wash her pair out daily and try to get them to dry overnight.
“They were always soaking, but at least they were clean,” she said.
She further told the inquiry that while there were many beatings in the home, one nun showed her great kindness and tried to look after her when she was taken ill.
She said the atmosphere was always better at Christmas.
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