In Spring 1946, the British authorities agreed to allow children to leave Germany. The Irish government agreed to host some for three years, after which they would be sent back to relatives in Germany. German Catholic charity Caritas had by May selected 100 children aged between 5 and 14, predominantly from the Ruhr area of North Rhine Westphalia. They were put in the care of the Irish Red Cross. The first 88 children arrived in Dún Laoghaire on 27 July 1946. The initial reception centre was St. Kevin's Hostel at Glencree, County Wicklow, a former reformatory school owned by the Minister for Supplies. There Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul nuns provided treatment for transmissible diseases and malnutrition. The Red Cross then liaised with the SGCS to place the children in the homes found by the SGCS. Some children were removed from abusive homes, while most adapted quickly, learning English and sometimes forgetting their German.