Many listeners have shared their stories of corporal punishment in school in recent days. The punishment only ended in Irish schools in 1982. In the 1950s and 60s, Senator Owen Sheehy-Skeffington campaigned for its abolition. His daughter Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington speaks about her father’s efforts. The senator died in 1970 at the age of 61. Owen Sheehy-Skeffington also tried to help expose the brutal conditions in industrial schools. He corresponded with Peter Tyrrell who was sent to an industrial school in the 1920s where he was abused by Christian Brothers. Owen Sheehy-Skeffington encouraged Mr Tyrrell to write his autobiography which was published posthumously.
Advertisement
