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Irish Deaf Archives: PATRICK BYRNE

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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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    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 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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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.
Title:
Irish Deaf Archives: PATRICK BYRNE
Description:

Patrick Byrne is a man whose life is being examined by the Irish Deaf Archives.

This vlog is in Irish Sign Language.

Please contact irishdeafarchives@gmail.com for more information.

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NB: this "Irish" subtitle set is not actually in Irish: these are English subtitles without the transcriptions of in-video texts, meant to be used to subtitle the original YouTube video.
The English subtitle set, http://www.universalsubtitles.org/en/videos/eibWwl4PiWS8/en/359064/ , is meant for translations in other languages, where in-video texts will have to be translated too.

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Video Language:
American Sign Language
Duration:
12:41

Irish subtitles

Incomplete

Revisions