Historical Roots of Legal Sign Language Interpreting - BDHS seminar

I attended a really interesting session in the Sandwell Deaf Community Centre yesterday given by my friend and colleague Anne Leahy. She's looking at a lot of the same issues as I am, especially in relation to the historical roots of sign langauge interpreting in court. It was hosted by the British Deaf History Society - a most enjoyable day!

History Show, RTE Radio 1 Podcast: Monaghan Lunatic Asylum

 An ISL interpretation of a recent radio podcast that may be of interest...

The History Show, presented by Myles Dungan, 29 March 2015.

Brendan Kelly, Anne MacLellan and Fiona Byrne on the history of the Monaghan Lunatic Asylum, which opened in 1869. This institution's records demonstrate how mental illness was perceived and treated over the years.

Deaf Village Ireland, The 'Medical' Model and Visibility of Deaf Culture

Just some thoughts about the noticeable new architecture surrounding Cabra's Deaf Village...[English transcription below]

Hi all. Just a quick vlog to update you on what's happening with my studies.

Well, this last month has seen me up to my eyes preparing for my first yearly progress review - it's at the end of the month and it has me a little anxious. I've been formally registered with Trinity COllege Dublin for over twelve months now, and I've been researching and reading away all that time. So the progress review meeting is going to discuss how I've spent that time - has the quality of that work been sufficient? Do I have a clear enough understanding of where I'm going with it all in the next while? I'm going to be well grilled about all this at the interview - a senior Department of History figure is going to be conducting the interview, and hopefully I'll be giving good responses to the questions I get asked.

So I'm a little nervous about this progress review. Another part of the review is a research essay of 8,000 words, and I've been typing away on that, talking about the work I've completed, in which areas, the structure of my thesis, and a host of other things. SO I finished all 8,000 words a couple of days ago. I felt a bit ambivalent about it, but I have two weeks to refine it, and I'll email it to my two supervisors and I'll use their comments and feedback to help that process. After that I'll submit it, hope for the best, then have my progress review interview - and then I guess I'll see how I get on. If I do well, I get officially enrolled as a PhD candidate. Not sure what happens if I don't do well... But I feel confident enough about it right now.

So anyhoo. I did want to vlog about something that occurred to me recently that had quite an impact, and it's possible that many of you watching feel the same, or have had this thought yourselves. But it made me think, and I just wanted to share that with you all.

Yesterday I went to the Deaf Village Ireland (DVI), and I got off the bus at the Navan Road opposite, the main road passing by the site of the DVI. As I went to cross the road, I looked up - and saw something kind of strange. I don't know if you know the new Medical Centre that's there now. It's a tall building that houses doctor's offices, a chemist, and other things like that. The size and sheer presence of this new, large building really struck me. Now, years ago, before this building was ever there, you would have seen a very different sight - the familiar building of St Joseph's school for Deaf Boys. You might see it on your way into the school, which has been there for... how long is it now? Since  1857 anyway, so that's how many years... apologies, I can't do the maths in my head! - but we're talking over 150 years in any case. And in the past, there wasn't any big obstacles blocking your view of the school. Passers-by had a clear view of it from outside. Hearing people would see it every day as they walked down Navan Road, and say "Ah, there's St Joseps's", or "The Deaf and DUmb" as Cabra residents often called it. So for decades, hearing people would pass the school and know what it was - a place where Deaf people were, a Deaf place. I'm sure they would often have seen groups of Deaf boys on their way out of the school, too, signing away - so St Joseph's was a Deaf, sign language-using place in their mind. So for years you had that familiar notion of a Deaf place, easily visible and recognisable.
But now - blocked. Out of sight.

It's not totally rendered invisible by the medical centre - look carefully in the distance to the top right of the centre and you'll see the Thomas Mahon building, kind of hidden away. Here's a photo:
It's become hard to see - blocked by this new medical centre. Which gives me pause. Now, I don't have the kind of deep-seated anger about this that the Deaf community might have - it's not my place, as a hearing child of a heating family (though heavily involved with the Deaf community), and the community will have its own range of emotions and views about this. Now, some Deaf people I've talked to did feel it was kind of an eyesore. I don't know, but for me personally, it struck me - and here's why.

We all know that for the most part, hearing people don't know a thing about Deaf people. ASk about deafness and they're likely to think of the ear, hearing loss, not being able to hear sound - that familiar focus on hearing ability. The first things that come to mind for them are medical - the medical model - how to fix those broken ears, those poor deaf people and their awful lives, how we must attempt to repair them... and when they are hearing - job done. That's a very widespread view among hearing people.

It's similar to doing a search on the internet for the word 'deaf' - see how many search results you'll get that talk about hearing aids... or cochlear implants... or anything linked to a medical view of deafness. It's harder to search for information about Deaf culture, sign language, Deaf pride, history, and tradition - being Deaf. It's harder because first you have to wade through all this stuff from the medical perspective before you find the Deaf cultural info you are searching for.

The problem is that this medical-perspective information - this medical model - is slap-bang in front of you. Obscuring your view of what's behind it. Its sheer presence is an obstacle, and it's hard to see what lies around its corners. Deaf culture ends up hidden away, tucked behind this monolith. Hidden information about a hidden culture.

So when I looked up and saw the Navan Road medical centre... I saw another monolith. Another obstacle, with Deaf culture and sign language and everything linked to it, hidden in a remote corner behiind it. So now, passers-by see just a medical centre there. Maybe they even make a new link; they see St Joseph's - or the Deaf Village, rather- behind the centre and think, is there a connection? Next thing they're thinking that this site is where you get your hearing aids. They're thinking, that's where you go to get your ears fixed. And so on. Is the wrong message getting out there as a result?

I guess it's just of interest to me, the location of this brand new centre - right in front of where, for over a century, one of the most recognisable features of Deaf cultural life could be seen by everyone. And the fact that it's a medical centre, well ... I just think it's a funny kind of metaphor for real life. Take hearing parents when they find out their child is Deaf. They're confused, they look for guidance ... and straight away, the medical-model people are out in droves. The medical professionals are unloading all their advice. The parents are all at sea with all of this new information. And often, they heed all the medical advice they're given. They send their Deaf child to mainstream education, they arrange for a cochlear implant, and all the rest of it. But information about Deaf culture, sign language, pride in being Deaf, the achievements Deaf people possess - being Deaf as something that's okay, a Deaf identity - that information is off in the distance. It's around at the back, far away. Hidden behind this rush of medical guidance, away where it can't be seen. And maybe that is similar to what you see now at the Navan Road.

It's just my view, and maybe you'll feel I'm talking rubbish, But I'd really be interested to hear your views. Thanks for watching.  

Presentation in Kinghan Church, Belfast

A lovely evening with the Sign Language Users Club in Belfast. Thanks to all who attended and who made me feel so welcome.

Theory, Sources, Suffering, and Respect

I was talking to a friend recently about my research work, and I had a bit of a realization. It wasn't completely 'new' to me, but it hadn't hit me with such force until I chatted with her about it.

First, just a quick update as to where I am with it all - my short term aim at the moment is simple: read, read, read! I really need to get a strong, deep context in place for the resources I have already found. There's no point in finding all these newspaper articles, court transcripts, and prisoner petitions about Deaf people if I don't know about the times they were written in and the structures of organizations that were involved. I know a good deal already, but I want to know more, to really place myself in the time.

The other thing I'm doing is clarifying and narrowing my approach - my methodology and theoretical framework, I suppose you'd say, if you were taking a social science perspective. The thing is that I can't seem to find any theoretical construct or schema that applies itself to the topic I am looking at in a helpful way. I've thought about about Foucault, and his extensive work on the rise of institutions and power, but still at too early a stage with him to say comfortably that I should incorporate him into a framework of analysis to be used. In fact, to be honest, I am wary of *any* theory or schema or construct that I've come across, in the sense of using it as a tool to analyze, or a lens through which to look through. There's something about that method that strikes me as prediction of your findings before you've even looked at what's there.

So for the moment I prefer what I'm thinking of as the 'pure history' approach - identifying, gathering, analyzing and evaluating historical sources, with a particular emphasis on sources that at least partly reflect Deaf people's own experiences. And there are obviously well-worn methodological categories I will be employing, and ways to interpret this information. 'History from below', critical reading of sources 'against the grain', and so on. In terms of a theoretical base, I really can't think of anything more effective, more explanatory and more satisfying to me at the moment than simply.... a Deaf Studies perspective. Seeing signed languages as real languages, Deaf people as heirs to and possessors of an authentic culture, which was formed during the time under study. Perfectly simple - in my mind at least.

Anyway - back to the conversation with my friend; and to the sources that I'm cathering. What really excites me in these sources are the glimpses into life for Deaf people in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A police statement reveals details about family life; a newspaper article about a trial shows how the Deaf witness or accused communicated - and how that was perceived by hearing people.

But a problem with this is; *very few* of these sources arise from, shall we say, peaceful, non-problematic circumstances. Police records, prison records, court records - these files and documents come into existence through conflict, disagreement, and often violence and abuse. The historical record seems almost silent about Deaf people's day to day, hassle-free, happy and productive working lives... and it's what to do with those fragments of discord and conflict that I need to think deeply about.

I recently came across a Circuit Court file from the 1920s , where a Deaf girl had been raped near her home in Co Clare. the girl, who had been  to St Mary's, rushed back home to her father where she wrote out what had happened to her on a piece of paper. The father wrote back to her asking who the attacker had been, would she recognize him again; the girl told her father she would have to go live with her aunt for a time, possibly out of fear of her attacker, possibly also from the shame that such a crime may attach to the victim in those times (and indeed, are those times really gone)? Now, these details - the story of this young woman, assaulted in such a horrific way, her conversation in writing with her no doubt devastated father - were not given in detail in the local press. In fact the girl's full name was not even mentioned. Only in the Circuit Court file in the National Archives did I find all this detail and more, written up in police statements and court transcripts.

But I also found... the piece of paper that the girl and her father used to communicate. That extraordinarily private moment between father and daughter, because of the unique circumstances of Deaf-hearing family communication at the time, was captured and preserved, probably seen by no one for eighty or more years. And I get to see it. To touch it.

I've thought a lot about the importance of documents like these - the fact that I am honored to be able to access such intimate and sensitive details about people long dead and buried - but I have found out so many similar stories, so many handwritten testimonies of violence and abuse from Deaf women, that I wonder am I able to handle it. A straight hearing male, separated from these Deaf women by a century or more. How can I even begin to think I can tell their story? But if I cannot, what can I do with these documents of pain and suffering?

For now all I can do is liaise with the Irish Deaf Women's Group. Ask the experts how to sensitively deal with these women's stories in the context of my work. And  to pass on whatever I can to them so that these stories are given to those who may be able to benefit from them and remember proudly the ones who told them in the first place.

And one thing I must do, constantly, at all times: give thanks for the privilege of sharing, separated by time and place, these most sensitive stories of suffering. And in all my interactions with these sources and those that I can make aware of them - to show respect.

Access for US Deaf Prisoners - NAD Statement

A very recent press release from the US National Association of the Deaf on prisons using inmates as interpreters, rather than qualified ASL interpreters...

See Press Release Here

Cork Archives - Preliminary Visit

Hello all! I'm here at the Cork Archives - ah, you're wondering why the white gloves ...! I'm wearing these because here in the Archives you could be dealing with old documents that are 100 or even 150 years old. SO if you handle them roughly, you could damage them. So you need to wear the gloves to gently turn over the pages. Plus, the human hand secretes tiny amounts of oil that can spread into the paper and damage it over time. So the gloves are worn for safety. It's going great here far, it's been very interesting. I came down to check out the Cork Lunatic Asylum (mental hospital) Case Books, which are records kept of each patient beginning on arrival. Patients were monitored and logs kept over time. There are many volumes of case books and I'll be working my way through them bit by bit, but for these two days I'm really just seeing the lay of the land in regards to the kinds of info the records contain. I'll go more in depth with it later on, but I did come across a record of one Deaf woman. Six pages of a report that covered her life in the asylum, from her arrival in 1899 to her death there in 1922. Notes were made every 6 months or so on her progress. I've been transcribing these reports, but there are no photos of the woman in this one. Hopefully I'll locate more as I go on. So it's been really interesting so far, but with some chilling moments of shock, contemplating the lives of these people, stuck in the institution all day, doing nothing, and how that affected their behaviour - and eventually, their state of mind. More ISL updates to come in the future.

A research visit...

Very excited to be travelling to Cork and Belfast in the next week for some exploratory research (and a presentation). I am going to be checking out admission registers and casebooks of Cork Lunatic Asylum and Gransha Asylum, Derry, and looking for Deaf people who were admitted. It's just a preliminary peek at the records but I anticipate that it will be quite a thrilling and emotional experience.

Nursing Clio - Adventures in the Archives: Searching for the Past

Nursing Clio - Adventures in the Archives: Searching for the Past

I have commented the following: "A great, powerful post. I have just begun postgraduate research into the lives of Deaf people in Irish institutions in the nineteenth century, and there is something uniquely affecting about coming across not just letters, petitions and statements written by Deaf people who were incarcerated, but also the handwritten notes passed between barristers and Deaf witnesses or defendants at trials. These pieces of paper were more than just a record of a conversation; in many senses they *were* the conversation, and to hold these in your hands – with the wider life experiences, often brutal, of the writer in mind – is both thrilling, and a sober reminder of a responsibility, a deep privilege and duty to tell their stories respectfully and with dignity."

Presentation in Deaf Village Ireland

Hi all,

I will give a presentation about my postgraduate history research, in ISL, in the Deaf Village Ireland (Ratoath Road, Cabra) on Wed 25th June, interpreters provided, all welcome. Deaf and hearing! :)

Research Blog 29 May 2014 - Reading, Researching and Planning

I talk about my  progress in the last while on my blog, including my first visit to PRONI and discovering files on Deaf Women Prisoners, as well as my upcoming presentations at the Deaf Village Ireland and the Kinghan Church, Belfast.

English transcription to follow...

A Letter from an angry Deaf female workhouse inmate...

A letter from an angry Deaf female workhouse inmate.

[Source: 1906 Sep 29 - Dundalk Democrat]

I have met Anna Eakins before - both in the Irish Deaf History Archives and on RTE's 'Hands On' recently (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2w4PmegUvs).

Here we see another example of a poor Deaf woman dealing with a harsh institutional system - but with the benefit of a good education and impressive literacy.

Out Of Sight – The Documentary

Out Of Sight – The Documentary

"Geoffrey has never had a mental disability. His family sent him to Meanwood Park Mental Hospital in Leeds because they couldn’t cope with his deafness. He didn’t get out again for 22 years."

This clip features the testimony of a Deaf man placed in a mental hospital.

"This collection of videos takes in Storthes Hall, Stanley Royd, Meanwood Park Colony, New Church Hospital, Carstairs and former service user experiences..  Documentary about the introduction of the Community Care Act in April 1993 and the closure of many of Britain's older mental hospitals. This report reveals how thousands of people, who were locked away in such institutions for long periods of their lives, were never mentally ill in the first place. They were incarcerated for being deaf or pregnant or simply unwanted, but, once committed they were automatically deemed insane, and had no way of escaping. Includes the personal testimonies of a number of victims of this cruel and outdated system."

A full transcript into English is at: http://www.meanwoodpark.co.uk/insight/out-of-sight-the-documentary/

Many thanks to Julie Wolfers for the link to this documentary.

The Deaf Thief from Drogheda ... and the Norwegian Sailor

ISL version of a story about Henry Brady, a Deaf man living in Drogheda, Co Louth in 1896, arrested for stealing a watch belonging to a Norwegian sailor!
___________________________

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

I'm back, here to sign another story to you about Deaf history, prisoners, courts and all the rest! I've just come across a great new story, that happened in Drogheda - where I live, so of course I was really interested to find out what happened!

This story is about a Deaf man who was arrested for stealing a pocket watch. So what happened?

On 7th September 1896, the Petty Sessions court was held in Drogheda. The Petty Sessions were the lowest of the courts, the equivalent of today's District Court, for hearing small matters. A defendant was called, Henry Brady, a Deaf man from Drogheda, accused of stealing a pocket watch from a Norwegian sailor. But the start of the hearing was beset by communication issues; first off, a defendant who was deaf; secondly the Norwegian sailor did not have a word of English! It looked like communication might be impossible. But further inquiry showed that the Deaf man could read and write, thus was able to communicate with the court. As for the Norwegian, his ship was in Drogheda port, and him and his fellow sailors were about town; his captain was able to speak English, and agreed to interpret for the hearing. With these communication issues resolved, the hearing began.

The first witness called was the policeman on duty, who gave his evidence. He stated that on the previous night, a Sunday, at about 11.15pm, he was on patrol when the Norwegian approached him in an upset state, but unable to communicate. Through gestures the policeman understood that his pocket watch had been stolen. Earlier that night, the policeman had seen the Norwegian in the company of the Deaf man, Henry Brady, and suspected Brady had taken the watch. The policeman soon came across Brady and followed him down the street. Brady noticed he was being followed, and quickened his pace; Brady eventually ducked into a lane, and the policeman ran to catch up with him. On turning the corner he saw Brady dropping some item before running off.

With the darkness of the night, the policeman had to use a match to light the ground, where he came across the Norwegian's watch. it was now clear that Brady had been the thief. He caught up with Brady and arrested him; following a written caution, Brady made a written statement and was placed in gaol.

After the policeman had given his evidence, the Norwegian sailor was called, along with his interpreter. He stated that the previous night he had met Brady at the railway station and accompanied him in a friendly manner down as far as the bridge near Shop Street. There, they met two young ladies and spent some time with them - though who knows how these four communicated with each other, through gesture or other means! They walked a little way down towards the church where the girls left them.

At this point the Norwegian checked the time - but found his watch was gone! Brady had already gone off at this stage. The sailor found a policeman and attempted as best he could to convey what had happened.

At this point the written statement of the Norwegian was given to Brady in the dock to read over and was asked his response. He read it and wrote a single line at the bottom, which read: 'I am guilty.' Brady had admitted his theft to the court. The judge then wrote to him a single line of his own: 'One month's imprisonment'.

Brady was then removed to Drogheda Gaol to begin his sentence.

_____________________
Sources... Drogheda Independent 12 Sept 1896. 
Drogheda Argus 12 Sep 1896. 
Drogheda Conservative 12 Sep 1896.
Dundalk Democrat 12 Sep 1896.

How to use Irish News Archive ...

Hi all. Now, some more ISL information for you if you're interested in researching Deaf history.

One place to look that's packed with rich and plentiful references to Deaf people is newspapers. In times gone by, old newspapers had long, detailed articles that covered Deaf people's experiences in court, or talking about the Cabra Deaf schools (St Mary's and St Joseph's), class reunions and so on.

You can go to the National Library which pretty much has all the newspapers published in Ireland to date, or you could try a website called IrishNewsArchive.com. Both resources are good, particularly the website. You pay 10 euro for a 24 hour period of access to the site, within which you can search, explore, read articles, and save them. Just last night I paid the money and have since found some new information already!

So now, let me show you how to use the site...

Institutions - Which Ones? ... and Reflexivity

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Sorry for the top of my head being cut off in the last vlog!

To clarify: What are the 'institutions' I will be talking about?

I'll be looking at both state and private (charity) institutions.

1) Schools
2) Courts and Law
3) Workhouses
4) Prisons
5) Mental Institutions / Lunatic Asylums


At the moment I am beginning to focus on ideas around reflexivity in my research - who am I? So here are some aspects of who I am...

 - I have been an interpreter for 9 years
 - I do not come from a Deaf family
 - I've been working with the Deaf community for about 15 years
 - I did a Master's thesis in DCU about Deaf politics
 - I worked on Hands On as a researcher for two years
 - I worked in the Irish Deaf Society as Administrator
 - I received my Interpreting Diploma from CDS in 2005, so I've been a professional interpreter for 9 years now.

So that's me; a quick summary anyway. What I'm hoping to do now is investigate who 'I' am a little further. The biases and baggage I may bring to my research, and also the crucial discussion of power when it comes to research processes and production.

Obviously the aspects of 'me' I have outlined here will all need examination and dissection over the coming months! I'm looking forward to it!

A summary of my research at this very early stage...

HI all,

A very quick ISL video (with English voiceover) summarising my research ideas at this stage. English voiceover is not great, so apologies - it'll be clearer next time!

Cormac

The Mystery of Killard

ISL translation to follow ...

My First Vlog!

Just a quick HELLO to everyone in ISL.