Artane, A Little Child & The Pope

When war refugee Maria Hrela found to her horror that her only son was being savagely abused in Artane Industrial School, she went right to the top with her complaint - to Pope Pius XII himself. And soon afterwards a Bishop arrived at the notorious north Dublin Detention Centre to check on how Bruno Hrela was being treated.

The highly-unusual Vatican probe into conditions endured by Bruno at the harsh Industrial School over 50 years ago, may figure in the inquiry into Institutional Abuse set-up by the Government.

Bruno, who is now in his 60's is fully prepared to testify at the Inquiry about the horrific physical and sexual abuse meted out to him and other children at Artane during the 1950s. Bruno is also prepared to testify how his Mum managed to spark of a high-level Vatican inquiry into his harsh treatment at the hands of the notorious Christian Brothers who owned and managed Artane Industrial School.

Tragically after the inquiry Bruno's treatment worsened and he was savagely and unmercifully beaten by the Brothers because of his Mum's attempt to expose the savage treatment of children in Artane Industrial School.

Bruno's family came from Croatia and they fled, with many other refugees, to Italy. Bruno's Dad had been killed during a bombardment of their hometown, Karlovacs, during the Second World War. Bruno's Mum took him and his two sisters to live in poverty in Rome. She was a devout Catholic and, despite their dire poverty, attended daily Mass in St. Peter's in Rome. It was there that she met a Croatian priest linked to the Vatican and it was arranged for the family to go to Ireland. Bruno recalled: " ...it was thought that we would be better off in a good Catholic country like Ireland ..."

Bruno's Mum rented a flat in Marino Dublin. His sisters were accommodated in convents. But she tried to hold onto Bruno and he was sent to a Christian Brothers day school in Marino. On his first day he witnessed a group punishment when the entire class, including Bruno, were beaten because someone made a noise and didn't own-up to it.

Bruno was traumatised by this incident as nobody had ever laid a hand on him before. He could not understand how someone could beat him and other children for no reason. And Bruno had travelled through war-torn Europe, he saw Nazi-occupied Paris and the Partisan guerrillas opposing them, but nobody had used violence against him until he ended up in holy, Catholic Ireland.

Bruno reminisced: "I could not believe the cruelty and brutality I was witnessing. The Brother had a leather strap and a cane. The experience struck total fear into me. And I didn't have a word of English."

But, unfortunately, much worse was to follow.

Bruno's Mum worked as a milliner (hat-maker) and earned a pittance of 2 pounds 10 shillings a week in Grafton Street and walked to and from work to save money on bus fares. But she could not afford to feed Bruno and he was brought to Artane Industrial School. He recalls the trauma of being brought there by a social worker. He described his first look of Artane as 'bleak'.


To his great dismay, he recognised one of the Brothers at Artane as the man who had savagely beaten him and an entire classroom of children on his first day in a schoolroom in Ireland. It was not a good omen.

Bruno, who is a mechanical engineer and a father of six living in London, says that during an approximate two-year stay in Artane, he was savagely beaten, terrorised, physically injured and also sexually assaulted.

"It was a system of deliberate cruelty. It was like a Nazi concentration camp." he says

SOURCE KF