Origin of our schools goes back to one letter

Stanley’s prescription for combined secular instruction and separate religious instruction in common schools may find greater acceptance in the 21st century, says Patrick F O’Donovan.

Edward Stanley’s letter to the Duke of Leinster was the foundation document for our national school system.

Predating similar provision in England and Scotland by about 40 years, the all-Ireland or national system was the Westminster government’s response to the intricate circumstances of its most ancient colony in the immediate aftermath of Catholic Emancipation, 30 years after the Act of Union.