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(Irish Deaf History Archives Case File 1 Patrick Byrne)

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(Narrated by Cormac Leonard)

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[Cormac Leonard] Hello!

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In this presentation I will tell you the story of a Deaf man from Wexford, called Patrick Byrne.

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His story is an extraordinary one.

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He was sent to jail many times, to several different jails, and was often transferred from one to another, and then back again!

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He had a remarkable life!

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Patrick was born around 1840 in New Ross, Wexford.

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(Wexford on the map of Ireland)

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(New Ross Patrick Byrne's life -1840s-1870s - in Wexford)

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Like most Deaf people he grew up in a hearing family.

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He didn’t go to Dublin to school, and so never attended school for the deaf, where he would have been taught sign language.

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We know he was deaf, but it is not known if he was a sign language user.

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That said, at that time in Wexford (from the 1850s to the 1870s) there were many Deaf people living in the area.

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We know this from the prison register, which lists the names of several Deaf people.

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I’m certain that Patrick would have known some of these Deaf people,

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and that they would have been able to communicate with each other through gesture and sign.

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It is likely that before the Deaf schools in Cabra were established, people would have been using an early “version” of ISL.

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(Patrick the Man)

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Patrick grew up to become extremely strong and broad; he was very well built.

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Prison records list his height at 5 feet 10 inches, which was exceptionally tall for the middle of the 19th century.

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The records also mention his weight; he was very heavy.

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Later prison reports describe him as being “a very powerful man”, and that he was quick to lose his temper and hit out at others.

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(Life of Crime)

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Around the age of 18 years old Patrick started getting involved in fights.

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Sometimes he drank heavily also.

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But mostly he got in trouble for fighting.

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Often he attacked policemen.

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It is not known why he attacked policemen in particular. It is possible that he had had a bad experience with the police, but there is no way of knowing.

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However, as a result, Patrick often ended up in court.

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Frequently he was sentenced to serve time in the local jail in Wexford.

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(Former Wexford County Jail)

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Usually these stays were short, maybe a week or two, or maybe a month, but they were a regular occurrence

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(Penal Servitude)

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until 1870 when he committed a very serious assault.

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It was then that Wexford court realised that Patrick needed a long and severe prison sentence.

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He was given 5 years “penal servitude”.

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Consequently, he was sent to Mountjoy Gaol in Dublin, where he served the first part of his sentence.

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(Dublin on the map of Ireland)

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(Mountjoy Prison)

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(Daily life in Prison)

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He spent 9 months in Mountjoy Gaol.

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During his time there Patrick did not mix or communicate with other prisoners.

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He had his own cell.

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(Cell in Mountjoy Prison)

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He was confined to this cell all day, except for one hour per day when prisoners were allowed out to the yard.

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To reach the yard, prisoners walked in a long line.

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Once there, they walked around the yard. This was their exercise.

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However, it was impossible for prisoners to talk or even whisper to each other.

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Communication between prisoners was strictly forbidden.

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(Prisoners in exercise yard)

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At the end of the hour, prisoners had to return to their cell.

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Prison life was very tough!

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There was no work; prisoners were not given any tasks and there was very little to do.

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Prisoners were expected to serve their time with nothing to occupy them,

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except to reflect on the past and find remorse for the crimes they had committed.

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(Prisoner in cell)

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Imagine what it must have been like for deaf man as he entered the prison, as the door closed behind him...

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with no-one to talk to and not allowed to talk to anyone!

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At times Patrick’s behaviour was bad.

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On these occasions he was thrown into a special cell…

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where he was in darkness, surrounded by high stone walls;

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no matter how much he tried, the steel door wouldn’t budge;

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there were no windows.

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It must have been a terrifying experience for a deaf man.

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(Special cell)

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(Cork on the map of Ireland)

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(Spike Island prison)

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Nine months later Patrick was transferred to Spike Island prison, in Cork, where he stayed for about 3 years.

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On Spike Island cells were not locked, and prisoners were able to walk around, chat with each other and work.

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(Dublin on the map of Ireland
Lusk, North County Dublin)

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After some time there, Patrick’s behaviour was considered good enough for him to be sent to Lusk prison, in Dublin.

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Patrick had been sentenced to 5 years. However, in Lusk this was reduced to 4.5 years for good behaviour.

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At that time it was possible for sentences to be reduced and prisoners to be released early under licence.

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A licence permitted prisoners to be released early.

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(Convict Licence)

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(Patrick Byrne's licence)

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(Map of Ireland
New Ross, Co. Wexford)


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Patrick was given a licence and so left Dublin and returned to Wexford, where his family lived.

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Time passed, but it wasn’t too long before he broke the law again.

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There was no other choice but to send him straight back to Dublin to finish out the remainder of his sentence.

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Once he had served a total of 5 years he was free to return to Wexford.

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But in no time at all Patrick was in trouble again.

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At the beginning it was just small incidents, such as drunkenness and other minor offences.

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Until, once again, in 1877 he committed another serious assault.

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The judge had no option but to hand down another 5 years of penal servitude.

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Patrick was sent back to Mountjoy Gaol, and the process started again.

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(Escape Attempt!)

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An interesting incident took place during this time.

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As we know, Patrick was very strong and

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on one of the numerous occasions that he spent in the local prison in Wexford,

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–this time for only for a short period, approximately one or two months–

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he became very agitated and was desperate to get out.

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In fact he was in a small cell next to the police station, which was used as a holding cell for short periods of time,

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such as the days before prisoners were transferred to prison.

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Patrick was desperate to get out.

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So, despite the very high walls, he started to climb, in an attempt to scale the wall and escape over the other side.

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Another prisoner saw what he was doing and alerted the guards,

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who rushed to the wall and pulled him down.

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(Dundrum Lunatic Asylum)

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Dundrum Asylum

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That was in 1877.

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Five years later Patrick returned home to Wexford.

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But by this time a serious problem had arisen: any time Patrick saw a policeman he attacked him.

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Prison staff and other people related to the case started to pay attention, suspecting that he had mental health problems.

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You start to see these suspicions being mentioned in the prison records from the time.

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During that period a special “lunatic asylum” was in operation in Dublin.

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This was a closed facility where people with mental health problems were sent and kept.

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In Dundrum there was a lunatic asylum specifically for criminals.

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Patrick was sent to this asylum, initially to be examined, to find out if he did indeed have a mental health problem.

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On this first trip to Dundrum it was concluded that he was not insane,

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and so he was sent back to “normal” prison.

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However, some time later, in 1898, Patrick committed another very serious assault, and he was summoned back to Wexford court.

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The judge heard the evidence from both sides but, on questioning Patrick, he decided that Patrick was not able to plead,

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that is, when the judge asked Patrick if he was guilty or not, Patrick could not give an answer.

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Consequently, the judge had to send Patrick back to the lunatic asylum in Dundrum.

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So, in 1898 Patrick was committed to this asylum, where he remained.

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In the 1901 census Patrick is listed in the asylum,

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(1901 Census)

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(Census Note: "Deaf and Dumb" in last column)

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he is also in the 1911 census.

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This means that he spent 13 years or more in this mental hospital.

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(1911 Census)

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(1911 Census. Again "Deaf & Dumb in last column)

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(Patrick Byrne was not a monster...)

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In the many prison records I have examined, Patrick’s name is associated with breaking the law and beating people up.

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Prior to his first 5 year sentence, he had broken the law 33 times.

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He had committed a series of 33 assaults and other offences! Wow!

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So from this presentation you may have an image of Patrick Byrne as some kind of monster or savage;

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you may think that consequently, and because he had no education, and couldn’t read or write,

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that he should have been locked up in some kind of institution.

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But there was another side to Patrick.

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As mentioned already, every time Patrick was released from prison in Wexford he returned home to his family.

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It appears that his family looked after him and cared for him.

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They were always willing to take him back.

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The attitude, at that time, was that Deaf people could simply be dumped in an institution and left there,

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and families could wash their hands of the situation.

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But Patrick’s family didn’t do that.

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They took him back every time, which is really astonishing.

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During Patrick’s time in Mountjoy Gaol his family in Wexford wrote letters to him.

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(Letter from his brother William Byrne)

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And he replied. They exchanged letters more than once.

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Remember, this is a man who could not read or write.

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So how was he able to correspond with his family?

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Maybe someone in the prison, for example a guard, was able to transcribe and translate these letters using basic gestures.

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I don’t know how they did it, but they sent letters to each other regularly.

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(Letter from Patrick to brother William)

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There are also accounts from prison inspectors, who, on making enquiries about this Deaf prisoner,

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were told by staff that Patrick was a decent man, but quick-tempered,

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but nonetheless that he was a hard and willing worker,

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completing quickly and with a high level of concentration any work that was given to him.

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It is also reported that he was pleasant, patient and very quiet once he had enough to do.

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So Patrick definitely had two sides to him.

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(What happened after he was sent to Dundrum?)

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What happened to him after that?

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We don’t know. But new information is due to be made available shortly from the National Archives.

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It may be possible to go through other files (there may even be photographs!)

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and find more information.

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I am looking forward to it!

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So, overall a sad story.

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(If you want to know more on Patrick Byrne contact us at irishdeafarchives@gmail.com)