Education, opportunity and social change : the development of a Catholic university elite in Ireland, 1879-1922

Abstract

This thesis explores the development of a Catholic university elite in Ireland, 1878-1922. The provision of education, especially university education, in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland is the main focus of this thesis. Central to this study is an investigation of how access to higher education facilitated elevated social, political and economic status for a privileged section of the Irish Catholic community. The role of education as a carrier of ideas and as a form of social interaction is also considered. A central aim of this thesis is t9 bring to the exploration of the education debate the voices of Catholic students themselves. Therefore, the experiences of a sample group of 51 Catholic graduates in 1891 and 1901 from the Royal University of Ireland and Trinity College, Dublin, are discussed throughout the thesis, although other prominent individuals are also considered. Such an approach affords an intimate understanding of the way education influenced and empowered middle-class Catholics - an increasingly important and ambitious stratum in Irish society. The experiences of the sample group and their university colleagues reveal much about fin de siecle Ireland. Another central aim of this thesis is to re-examine the vital but under-studied years between the fall of C. S. Parnell in 1891 and the Easter Rising in 1916. The experiences of the sample group testify to the dynamism of the period and illuminate significant social and political change. Moreover, they challenge central aspects of Irish historiography of this period. Not only did university students overwhelmingly support constitutional Home Rule and eschew separatism, they actively promoted themselves as future leaders of a Home Rule Ireland. In preparation for their future roles as political leaders, they embraced educational, professional and social forms based on British models. Significantly, they paid little more than superficial attention to the condemnation of cultural nationalists who denounced as 'un-Irish' students' foray into high political, social and professional circles. Although some students made conciliatory gestures to Irish cultural revivalism, pragmatic and modem considerations took precedence over Gaelicist rhetoric in the spheres of education, employment and politics. The Great War and subsequent contingent events arrested the ascension of the Catholic university elite to dominance of Irish political and social life, deeming them a lost generation of Irish leaders. This thesis explores their political, professional and cultural development and through them salient issues in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland. Show more