The Irish standard., 1908-07-11


is practically controlled by the clergy.
each denomination being allowed to
supervise the instruction of it's own
children at the expense of the gov
ernment, says William E. Curtis. in
recent Dublin letter to The Chicago.
Record Herald.
There are national schools for Cath
olic children and separate ones for
Protestant children, and wherever tre
members of any religious denomina-
tion can round up certain number
Of children they can have a school of
their own. A national commissioner
Of education has general control and
a veto upon all propositions. He males
the rules and regulations. He fixes.
the tests of the examination of the
teachers, but the teachers are prop IS
ed by the priests or the Protestant
clergy. as the case may be. ..-a.-sv y.
Education and religion have always
gone hand in hand both in ancient and
modern Ireland The history Of one is
the history OF the other. instruction
has always been given either by or
under the supervision of priests and
monks, and there have been regular
teaching orders like the Christian
Brothers, who combine religious with
secular instruction, with the catechism
as their chief textbook. AS early as
the middle of the sixth century the
monastery schools of Ireland were IA
nous all over the world, and even at
that date there were 5000 students at
Clonarde College, and an equal num-
ber at Bangor. at Monasterboice and
several other centers of learning. The
sons Of kings. chiefs. mobiles and other
favored classes lived in the monas-
teries with their instructors. but usu-
ally each ordinary student had little
hut of sod built by himself, and often
those from the same. locality Or the
same clan built houses for their COM
mon use.
All Of the more important schools
had students from foreign lands. An
English bishop, writing in the year
7o5, says that they came in fleet loads"
from Great Britain and the continent.
Many Of them were princes Of royal
houses. Several Of the early kings Of
France and other countries were ed'l-
Gated in Ireland, which was for three
or four centuries the most learned
country in the world. Great numbers
Of Irishmen were employed as profess
sors and teachers in the schools and
colleges of England and the continent.
Charlemagne, Charles the Bald ard
other monarchs Of the middle ages call
ed learned men from Ireland as guests
and as tutors in their courts, and the
influence Of Irish scholars was greater
than that Of those from any othcr
country For four or five hundred
years after the time Of st. Patrick
the monasteries Of Ireland were the
center and source Of science, and art
and learning of every kind and the lit
erature Of the Gaelic reached its high
.st glory. The Danish invasion de-
stroyed these conditions and threw -
erything into disorder. The moncs-
teries were sacked, the monks We're
scattered, the students fled to their
homes and the development of learn
ing and art suddenly was arrested.
There was another revival. during the
reign of Brian Boru, but this was in
terrupted by the glo-Norman inva-
sion, and Irish learning never again
reached its previous fame.
During the reformation all the mon
asteries throughout Ireland except IL.
a few remote districts were suppress
ed. More than four hundred were en-
tirely destroyed and their inmates were
turned out upon the world by the