Hedge school facts for kids
Hedge schools were secret and informal schools in Ireland, especially during the 1700s. They were created to secretly teach children from Catholic and Presbyterian families. At that time, laws made it illegal for these groups to have their own schools. Only schools run by the Anglican faith were allowed. So, people set up these hidden schools, often meeting in private homes or barns.
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Why Were Hedge Schools Needed?
After the 1600s, many Irish clan leaders lost their power and left Ireland. This meant that the old schools, which had trained poets and scholars for centuries, also changed. Teachers and students from these old schools adapted. They became teachers in new, secret Catholic schools. These schools also sometimes helped train priests for the Catholic Church, which was also forced underground.
Where Did They Meet?
Even though they were called "hedge schools," most classes did not actually happen next to a hedge. Instead, they were usually held indoors, in a house or a barn. Teachers were often paid by the subject. Very bright students sometimes competed with their teachers. Some even traveled secretly to Europe to study at Catholic colleges there.
What Did They Learn?
Students in hedge schools learned important subjects like reading, writing, and grammar in both the Irish and English languages. They also learned maths. Some schools taught Irish bardic poetry, local history, and even home economics. In certain areas, like Munster, students even learned Greek and Latin.
One politician in England once complained about how well-educated some Irish children were. He said that young peasants in County Kerry ran around in old clothes but carried books by famous Roman writers like Cicero or Virgil. Reading was often taught using small, cheap books called chapbooks. These books were sold at village fairs and had exciting stories, often about famous outlaws.
Were They Really Illegal?
From 1723 to 1782, laws called the penal laws made all Catholic education illegal. These laws especially targeted Catholic schools run by religious groups, and their property was often taken away. The goal was to make Irish Catholics become Protestants if they wanted a good education.
However, it's interesting that no hedge school teachers are known to have been punished by these laws. In fact, official records sometimes even mentioned hedge schools. Historians agree that hedge schools provided education, sometimes at a very high level. By the mid-1820s, up to 400,000 students were attending them. This shows how much ordinary Irish people wanted their children to get an education.
The Decline of Hedge Schools
After 1800, formal schools for Catholics, run by trained teachers, started to appear. For example, Edmund Ignatius Rice founded two groups of religious brothers, the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers. Both groups opened many schools that were legal and well-organized.
Hedge schools began to disappear after the British government started the national school system in the 1830s. Most Catholic bishops preferred this new system. This was because the new schools would be largely controlled by the Catholic Church. They would also allow for more formal teaching of Catholic beliefs. One bishop, James Warren Doyle, wrote in 1831 that the new system would help "suppress hedge schools" and ensure students were taught by "competent teachers."
Even so, some hedge schools continued to exist into the 1890s. This was partly because of poverty in rural areas and a lack of other schools. Later, some historians focused on the classical studies (Latin and Greek) taught in hedge schools. While these subjects were taught in some schools, it depended on what the local community wanted.
An inspector visiting a school in 1835 was amazed by a twelve-year-old boy. The boy read a passage from the Gospel of Saint Matthew in Greek! This shows the high level of education some students received.
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