NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times
Gerry Moriarty
A man has alleged at the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry in Banbridge, Co Down, that as a boy in care he was struck on the hands more than 60 times by a nun wielding the handle of a hurley stick.
The man, who was in the care of the Sisters of Nazareth at Nazareth Lodge in Belfast from 1945 to 1953 when he was aged between 7 and 15 told the 92nd day of the inquiry on Monday about several incidents when he was allegedly hit by nuns.
He described what he said was his worst experience and recounted how he fought a psychological battle with one nun by refusing to show pain even though he was allegedly hit at least 66 times on the two hands.
The witness said he was struck after he was wrongly accused of damaging a jotter by biting into its cover. He said the nun “beat me in front of the entire class; she said he would beat me until I told the truth”.
He said he lost count after he was struck for the 66th time. He said he was counting the strikes because “I was fighting a battle in my head” with the nun.
Describing what he was thinking and feeling at the time he said, “I can’t say (to the nun) I done this because I had not done it. Actually I did not feel the physical pain because I felt, ‘I am going to win this, I am going to win this’”.
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