This book provides a complete overview of the development of education in Ireland including the complex issue of how religion can coexist with education and how a national identity can be aided through Irish language teaching. It also offers a comprehensive exploration of the development, issues, challenges and future of education in Ireland within the context of historical studies.

This volume focuses on the creation, structure and evolution of the Irish national system of education. It illustrates how the system was shaped by the religious, social and political realities of nineteenth century Ireland and discusses the effects that the system had upon the Irish nation: namely that it was the chief means by which the country was transformed from one in which illiteracy predominated to one in which most people, even the poorest, could read and write.

This book examines the radical reform that occurred during the final two decades of British rule in Ireland when William Starkie (1860–1920) presided as Resident Commissioner for the Board. Following the lead of industrialized nations, Irish members of parliament sought to encourage the establishment of a state-funded school system during the early nineteenth century. The year 1831 saw the creation of the Irish National School System. Central to its workings was the National Board of Education which had the responsibility for distributing government funds to aid in the building of schools, the payment of inspectors and teachers, the publication of textbooks, and the cost of teacher training. In the midst of radical political and cultural change within Ireland, visionaries and leaders like Starkie filled an indispensable role in Irish education. They oversaw the introduction of a radical child-centered primary school curriculum, often referred to as the ‘new education’. Filling a gap in Irish history, this book provides a much needed overview of the changes that occurred in primary education during the 22 years leading up to Ireland’s independence.

For over 136 years the hedge schoolmasters were the dominant educators in Ireland. For most of that time, they worked underground due to the strictures of the Penal Laws. Their books were an eclectic mix of romantic chapbooks, as well as the best available literature of the eighteenth century, purchased by parents as cheap piracies of expensive English originals.

This book explores the access and participation issues present within Higher Education in Ireland. It examines policy, pedagogy and practices in relation to widening participation and documents the progress and challenges encountered in furthering the ‘access agenda’ over the past two decades. Access has become an integral part of how Higher Education understands itself and how it explains the value of what it does for society as a whole. Improving access to education strengthens social cohesion, lessens inequality, guarantees the future vitality of tertiary institutions and ensures economic competitiveness and flexibility in the era of the “Knowledge Based Economy”. Offering a coherent, critical account of recent developments in Irish Higher Education and the implications for Irish society as a whole, this book is essential for those involved both in researching the field and in Higher Education itself.