a timeline showing the education system and other important events that took place during the 19th century in Ireland.
Timeline
Table of Events
| Date | Event | Created by |
|---|---|---|
| 1700 to 1890 | Hedge SchoolsHedge schools were developed in the early 17th century shortly after the Penal Code was enacted in Ireland. The hedge schools, which were the successors of the then extinct Bardic schools, were made as an attempt to teach Irish culture and literature to the next generation and freely practice Catholicism. Due to the material taught being illegal, and the fact that these schools had no funding, they were often set up in community members' homes or barns, or if the weather permitted it, outdoors in the shelter of a hedgerow or tree. During the 19th century these schools wouldn't so much as vanish, but become more established in their rural communities. The following article by Ragged University highlights some key themes of P.J. Dowling's 'The Hedge Schools of Ireland.' This article goes over the key events of the hedge schools' history, including some insight into the Bardic Schools and their influence in the subject matter later taught in the hedge schools. Likewise, the article includes several first person accounts of the hedge schools that gives insight into what the experience was like as a student and as a headmaster. |
Lydia Gottshall |
| 1845 to 1852 | The Great FamineThe Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger and the Potato Famine, was a disaster caused by a fungus known as potato blight. Diseased crops, plus laws put in place to allow exporting crops from Ireland, led to about 1 million deaths, primarily in the rural areas of Ireland. Because of England's inaction, the Irish would grow to resent the English and tensions between both countries would grow. During the famine, many Irish people would immigrate to America in hope of a better life. The following article provides a detailed look into the causes, experiences, and aftermath of the Great Famine. In particular this article goes into detail on the Irish who would settle in America, and the trials that faced them. |
Lydia Gottshall |
| The end of the month Summer 1848 | Young Ireland RebellionThe Young Ireland Rebellion, or the Famine Rebellion, was apart of an Irish Nationalist movement that occured during the Great Famine. While the movement hoped to establish independance in Ireland via revolts, the Young Ireland movement would ultimately fail in these goals, the rebellion would set the path for Irish independance and inspire future movements. The rebellion itself occurred in County Wexford, County Kilkenny and finally County Tipperary. Irish nationalists, led by William Smith O'Brien, would be followed by, and then eventually hold forty seven policemen hostage in the house of a woman named Margaret McCormack. The police would, in turn, hold the widow's five children hostage. While O'Brien initially seemed to make peace with the police, gunfire broke out and several were killed in the fight. When reinforcements came for the police, the Young Irelanders split up, thus terminating both the rebellion and the movement. This article goes into depth on not just the Young Ireland Rebellion, but the leaders and political parties involved in this event. In particular there is an emphasis on the future work many of these nationalists would go on to participate in. |
Lydia Gottshall |
| 27 Mar 1860 | The Colleen BawnWritten by Irish American Dion Boucicault, this play was intended to celebrate Irish heritage. The Colleen Bawn, like many of the other plays written by Boucicault, focuses on a wealthy landowner who is torn between wanting stay with an exotic, yet forbidden, beauty (in this case, the 'colleen bawn', or fair girl, Eily O'Connor) and his cousin who he is expected to wed. While this play follows the same formula as Boucicault's other work, and reinforces several stereotypes of Irish people, the play does include a somewhat ominous ending that suggests Boucicault intended for the play to highlight some of the fears of the Irish in regards to English occupation and miscegnation. As quoted in Scott Boltwood's article, "The Ineffaceable Curse of Cain," The Colleen Bawn ends with the character Eily saying, "it's frightened I am to be surrounded by so many-" only to be cut off by the Anne (Hardress' cousin he was supposed to wed), who interupts her and says, "Friends, Eily, friends." Eily's final line is then "Oh, if I could think so," thus ending the play on a very awkward note between Hardress and Eily; which, as Boltwood explains, highlights the sentiments felt by the Irish during this time in regards to the English. |
Lydia Gottshall |