National Schools

Documenting our Heritage

National Schools, established by the British Government with the Stanley Letter in 1831, were originally multi-denominational, with a six member board of two Catholics, two Church of Ireland, and two Presbyterians. There was strict delimitation between religious and non-religious education, where the teacher had to declare that religious education was beginning, hang a sign on the wall indicating that religious education was in process, and remove all religious symbols and objects from sight when religious education finished. Also parents had the right to remove their children from this period of religious education if it conflicted with their religious beliefs. Lastly, schools who failed to abide by these rules or who refused admissions of different faiths to the patron where denied state funding. These rules largely remain in place today, but are no longer well recognised by the State, the Patron bodies, or the general public.

In the nineteenth century, in a climate of historical animosity between the churches, the multi-denominational system was strongly opposed: the established Church (Protestant Church of Ireland), though the church of the minority, thought it had a special position and a right to government support in promoting Protestantism. Both the Catholic Church, which was emerging from a period of suppression, and the Presbyterians, who had also suffered under the penal laws, had sought state support for schools of their own tradition. In the second half of the nineteenth century, first the Catholic Church, and later the Protestant churches conceded to the state, and accepted the "all religions together" legal position. The result was that by the latter end of the nineteenth century the system had become increasingly denominational, with individuals choosing to attend schools primarily catering to children of their own religion. However, the legal position remains to this day, having not been conceded even under a strongly Catholic post independence state.