Educating children of all faiths together: the Irish experience in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

There has been a strong link between education and the Church in Ireland since the advent of Christianity in the fifth century. The early monastic schools were an important influence for both clergy and laity up to the 12th Century. In medieval times many educational establishments were under church auspices, and monasteries and convents played an important role in providing education. Following the Reformation it was government policy that schools should be used to spread Protestantism in Ireland. During the Tudor era the government promoted education, envisaging that there should be parish schools, diocesan schools and a university, all three categories being intended to make Ireland English and Protestant. Under the rule of Elizabeth I in 1570 an Act of Parliament "for the erection of free schools" laid down that "there shall be from henceforth a free school within every diocese of this realm of Ireland, and the school master shall be an Englishman or of the English birth". A similar policy was continued during the time of the Stuarts. Schools set up by royal charter or with government aid in the 17th and 18th centuries were proselytising schools, their aim being to convert the Irish people to the Protestant faith. However the schools made a very limited contribution to this objective despite the strong control that the Crown and the established church (Church of Ireland) had over the appointment of masters in these schools.