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This book outlines the lives of six female members of the Irish Ascendancy, and describes their involvement with educational provision for poor children in Ireland at the end of the long eighteenth century. It argues that these women were moved by empathy and by a sense of duty, and that they were motivated by political considerations, pragmatism and, especially, religious belief. The book highlights the women’s agency and locates their contribution in international and literary contexts; and by exploring sources and evidence not previously considered, it generates an enhanced understanding of Ascendancy women’s involvement with the provision of elementary education for poor Irish children. This book will appeal to scholars and researchers in the fields of Education and History of Education. It will also have broad appeal for those interested in Gender and Women’s Studies, in Georgian Ireland and in the history of Ascendancy families and estates.

"In this first book-length examination of the SSPCK, Margaret Connell Szasz explores the origins of the Scottish Society's policies of cultural colonialism and their influence on two disparate frontiers. Drawing intriguing parallels between the treatment of Highland Scots and Native Americans, she incorporates multiple perspectives on the cultural encounter, juxtaposing the attitudes of Highlanders and Lowlanders, English colonials and Native peoples, while giving voice to the Society's pupils and graduates, its schoolmasters, and religious leaders."--BOOK JACKET.