Hi Grace. In 1831 the govt. decided to start an education system in Ireland and they set up the Commissioners of National Education. There were not enough teachers so they started Model Schools where young student teachers would be trained. The report from the Commissioners 1834-1836 said "The Model Schools were to be under the direction of teachers of superior attainment who would be specially paid for their services." They differed from other schools in several ways: They had student teachers The local Inspector was the Manager and he visited once a week The teachers´ salaries were paid directly by the Commissioners of National Education The local community and Churches had no say in the running of the school. William Hornan Newell Secretary to the Board of National Education speaking to a committee of the House of Lords in 1869 said the advantages of the Model Schools was they provided a superior class of education bringing together children of all denominations and very often all classes. There were 4 Model Schools in Dublin and 26 in other counties. There was going to be one in every county but because there was so much opposition they were not all built. All the Model Schools were built between 1848 and 1861. The teachers did not teach religion in the Model Schools. Different clergy came in to teach their own children one morning a week. The Catholic bishops did not like this arrangement. They wanted to run their own schools. In 1863 Catholic bishops said no priest was to send any person to be trained in any Model School. No teacher trained in any Model School after 1863 was to be employed by a priest in a National School. Priests were to withdraw Catholic children attending Model Schools. In 1892 it was decided that in areas where there was as well as a Model School either an ordinary Catholic or Protestant school there would be one school only for each religion. So if there was already a Catholic school the Model School became Protestant and if there was a Protestant school already the Model School became Protestant. As the majority of schools in existence were Catholic naturally most Model Schools then ended up as Protestant schools.

Hope this answers your query! Sorry I waffled on but thought you might like all the facts. I was very interested to know myself once that´s how I came to learn this. I think it is quite interesting.

Marie.

Sorry did you spot the deliberate mistake at the end of the paragraph?! It should read ´..if there was a Protestant school already the Model School became CATHOLIC´. Marie.