Compulsory Irish: The Language and the Education System, 1870s-1970s

Compulsory Irish was the major factor in moulding the education system of independent Ireland and this work, which draws on previously unused files from Government departments, is the first detailed account of the effects the compulsory Irish policy had on the education system and the status of the language. Adrian Kelly examines the rationale behind the introduction of compulsory Irish and the ever increasing emphasis on it in the curriculum of the primary (national) schools and at second and t…