Boys Reformatory, Magill

The Boys Reformatory, Magill, reopened in 1891 at the Magill Industrial School, after the closure of the Reformatory Hulk, Fitzjames. It was run by the State Children’s Council. From 1898 the Reformatory became a home for Protestant boys only. Catholic boys were sent to St John the Baptist Home for Boys, Brooklyn Park. In 1967 the Boys’ Reformatory was officially renamed the McNally Training Centre.

In 1891 the Boys Reformatory, Magill, reopened at the Magill Industrial School. After the Girls’ Reformatory was moved to Edwardstown, the Industrial School children were moved into the former Reformatory wing of the building. The reformatory boys were brought back to dry land from their increasingly damp dormitories on the Reformatory Hulk, Fitzjames. They were then housed in the newly renovated section of the building at Magill that had previously been utilised by the Industrial School.

At the beginning of the year 57 boys were accommodated at the Reformatory. In his first report from the new premises the Superintendent stated that the boys were ‘settling down to their new abode’. He also noted that the farming and gardening work with which they were now occupied was ‘more suitable than the limited way of employment possible on the Fitzjames.’

As on board ship, boys were trained in rifle and bayonet exercises and could become members of a fife and drum band. Religious and moral education classes were conducted at the school each day. On Sundays a staff member accompanied boys to various churches. For the first year boys received schooling from an Education Department teacher. In 1892 a teacher was appointed to the reformatory as a staff member. Among other subjects he taught practical crafts such as carpentry. An Education Department teacher was reappointed in 1913.

In March 1898, the Magill Industrial School was transferred to Edwardstown. At that time all the Catholic boys resident at the Boys’ Reformatory, Magill, were moved to a denominational reformatory, St John the Baptist Home for Boys, at Brooklyn Park. The Boys’ Reformatory, Magill, became a home specifically for boys of the Protestant faith. With the entire building available, inmates were separated into ‘first’ and ‘second’ class dormitories, based on their behaviour.

From October 1961 until October 1965, to relieve pressure on the Boys’ Reformatory at Magill, selected boys who were above school age were moved from Magill, to Bedford Park Boys’ Training Centre.

In 1967 the name of the institution was officially changed to the McNally Training Centre. The following year, after new buildings were completed, the original school and reformatory building was demolished.