The Irish hedge school and its books, 1695-1831

Author / Creator

McManus, Antonia

Available as

Physical

Summary

For over one hundred and thirty-six years the hedge school masters were the dominant educators in Ireland. For most of that time, they worked underground due to the strictures of the Penal Laws. Be...

For over one hundred and thirty-six years the hedge school masters were the dominant educators in Ireland. For most of that time, they worked underground due to the strictures of the Penal Laws. Being independent of church and state the schools incurred the wrath of both on occasions. The state regarded their reading books as objectionable. The beginning of the end for the masters came when their erstwhile allies, the Catholic hierarchy, concurred with the official view of them as incompentent, at a time when the church was seeking state aid for Catholic education. But the masters remained deep in the affections of the Irish people as they fulfilled a multiplicity of roles such as local scribe, historian, poet, defender of religion, Bible Society teacher, land surveyor, lawyer, parish clerk, revolutionary and political activist. This book studies the hedge schools and the texts used in their classes.

Show More