Early Twentieth Century Probation in Ireland
1922: Following the establishment of the new Irish State - Saorstát Éireann - there was just one Probation Officer - in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court. It is difficult to ascertain the extent to which probation supervision was utilised by the courts in the early decades after independence.1937: District Court Judges in Dublin urge additional recruitment of Probation Officers. The first male probation officer is appointed to supervise juvenile and adult male offenders.1937: Two further (female) officers are appointed, followed by two further male officers, in 1938 and 1940, and two more women in 1945. Half of the officers work to the Dublin Metropolitan District Court, with the remainder assigned to the Dublin Juvenile Court (established in 1943) at Dublin Castle. No full time paid officers worked outside of Dublin.1953: One officer is seconded to the newly constituted Adoption Board as Inspector for Dublin City and County.The number of probation officers grows from one (plus an assistant) in 1922, to no more than six at any one time from the 1940s to 1961. Voluntary societies such as the Legion of Mary, the Salvation Army and the St. Vincent de Paul Society receive official recognition.
Voluntary, part-time or temporary probation officers are appointed to work alongside paid probation officers with particular cases. These appointments to act as probation officers are made by courts (under the terms of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914. Members of these voluntary societies attend District Courts (mostly in larger urban centres) and work with individual offenders under supervision until at least the late 1970s.Mid-1950s: The Minister for Industry and Commerce sets up an interdepartmental committee to address a perceived significant increase in vandalism in urban areas.Late 1950s: The number of persons placed on probation (in Dublin) had fallen to less than 250 at any one time, from a figure of 700 in the late 1940s.
