<span class="postTitle">Butterflies and Wet Pants and Litanies and Novenas</span> The Education Times, July 4, 1974

Butterflies and Wet Pants and Litanies and Novenas

The Education Times, July 4, 1974

It's exam time again. Thousands of boys and girls are suffering it out in neatly-ordered examination centres trying to organise their chaotic masses of facts. It is an awesome occasion.

The examinations branch of the Department of Education rises to it with its notices and warnings, its stationery boxes and its sealed packages, its 'provisional' envelopes and its inspectors. 

Teachers have been drilling their students for the past month with hot tips and questions that must come up.

The students themselves have butterflies and wet pants and recite litanies and novenas. 'Prayer alone without some work is useless. God helps those who help themselves,' a teacher once told us.

But there is another side to it all. I am thinking of the 'treasures' to be discovered in the answer books. 'The Brehon law and the March law were laws written down by two wise men'. I wonder whether his father was a lawyer.

I have got some marvellous replies to a question on coign and livery. Who wants to know anyhow? 'Coign and Livery were the names of two men. They went into business in the 18th century. The business Coign and Livery we have today is descended from them.' I wonder if the boy believed that. Or if I asked a supplementary: What kind of business? what would his fertile brain invent.

A more bloody-minded fellow gave me something different: 'Coign and Livery were methods of executing a person who did anything wrong.' Were they worse than hanging or garrotting? The answer may have been a hangover from one class we devoted to different kinds of killing.

Another fellow was on the right track. 'Coign and Livery was a type of market for cattle and other livestock. Today we would call it Mart and Market.' I suppose that Michael Dillon was bound to surface in the stream of consciousness.

When I get plain bad answers I have no mercy. If the reply shows some wit or originality I am lenient.

What is a Papal bull? 'The papal bull was the Pope.' If the Pope had been an Englishman he would never have called it a bull. 'Laudabiliter was the Papal bull. He was praised by the people.' What a difference there is between a Papal bull and an Irish bull! I remember when Monsignor, now Bishop, Ryan was appointed the Pope's confessor, somebody said the Pope needed a strong Tipperary lad to take care of the Papal bulls!

Why were they called Gallowglasses? It is a somewhat contradictory name for mercenary soldiers, like a bull in a china shop. A couple of lads thought so. 'Gallowglasses were a tribe in early Ireland, who tried to fight off the Normans. They settled in the Cork area.'

Quite close! Now I wonder why the Cork area? Did he consider the Gallowglasses a good crowd to be descended from or was he having a slag at Cork people?

The word 'tribe' is important for your interpretation. A more cultured kind, probably from the Waterford area, wrote: 'Galloglasses were a sort of glass used in the 18th century.;

While in the sunny south-east I would like to report that 'The Strongbow were a tribe which settled in Waterford. They had very strong weapons and were good fighters.'

I thought I had done a good job teaching the Statutes of Kilkenny. Normally it's the kind of subject that sticks in a young person's mind. 'The Statutes of Kilkenny were a set of battles between the Normans and the Gaelic rules.' A fair attempt but he failed to say what kind of war.

The following answer might have been taken from a tourist brochure. 'The Statutes of Kilkenny are famous for their shapes and their situation. They are a great attraction for tourists all the year round. They are very old.' A very positive suggestion for the regional tourism manager at Kilkenny. Get a copy of the Statutes and exhibit them in a public place all the year round. It might start a revival of trews and the Irish cloak.

No answer book is boring when you get answers like these. I get angry no more. Neither do I blame my teaching. Nature will out. 'What is the coccyx, Browne?' a colleague asked. 'It's the bone behind the bum, sir.' Much closer than many a textbook answer, I reckon.

<span class="postTitle">Heligoland - From Where Roger Casement Set Out On His Ill-fated Mission</span> The Irish Press, May 4 1966

Heligoland - From Where Roger Casement Set Out On His Ill-fated Mission

The Irish Press, May 4 1966

The reaction to the atmosphere is so strong and the resulting tiredness of the first few days after arrival so unbearable, that the visitor to Heligoland is advised to take a long sleep. The island is also advertised as 'dust-free', which is rather strange at first hearing, but is catching because much of Germany suffers from dust during the hay-season, with resulting hay-fever.

Heligoland, rising up strong and defiant in the North Sea about 40 miles from the German coast, looks from the distance like an uneven mound with houses perched at various levels. On coming closer it gives the impression of a huddle of buildings cuddling together before a backdrop of red rock rising out of the harbour and glowing like a sunset in the rising sun.

The harbour is busy with small fishing boats, touring boats, and even some respectable cargo boats unloading all that is needed to serve the requirements 2,000 inhabitants.

A crowd of people waits on the pier to greet the new arrivals: natives returning after business on the mainland, officials from customs and excise, but the majority visitors. Standing on the pier you are approached by accommodating porters with their push carts to carry your luggage. It is a relief to be able to look around and take in the scene unheeded. The sky is perfectly blue and a hard morning sun lights up the island.

Built or repaired

Everything is in a state of being built or repaired. A crane raises up mouthfuls of gravel from the bottom of a boat and deposits them in the belly of a lorry, as the driver of the lorry watches the new arrivals with vacant stare. The porter has finally collected enough baggage to make the journey worthwhile (boats do not come often enough and each porter can get only one load) and we proceed.

On the left a large collection of huts offering everything from accommodation for the workers in the building site behind, to weather-forecasting for the fishermen on the area, stand drowsily in the sun. The rattle of a jack-hammer beats against the ear. On the right the fishermen mend their boats, rev their engines or dry their nets.

The porter chugs along with his load and refuses a cigarette, Guesthouses and hotels come nearer, all bright and airy, exposing their tablecloths and bed linen. People promenade at breakfast time and the wind rustles the flags. A man offers trips around the island in h his boat, but money is not mentioned. We arrive at our guest house where the luggage is deposited and the porter paid and the landlady, smiling, exhibits an antiseptic room and hopes that her guest is contented.

The best way to become acquainted with Heligoland is to walk around it. The island is small and the walk can be completed in less that an hour. Also, there are no cars and that makes the island a perfect children's playground. To wander along the shore takes you away from the houses and opens up beautiful vistas of water and rock. The rocks, gigantic red masses like the 'Long Anna' give the impression of being about to topple.

Place of worship

In early history the red rocks of Heligoland – then known as Forsites Land – were a Frisian place of worship, centuries later a refuge for Claus Stoertebaker and his corsairs. These rocks are also said to have made a home for the daughter of an English king, named Ursula, who came here to live with 11,000 thousand virgins. History does say whether she encountered the corsairs! Gulls and guillemots dot the sides of the cliffs, diving towards the water only to halt at the surface or keep up a continuous cry that echoes in the canyons.

Further on boys practise mountain climbing on the less precipitous reaches, and workers build a wall as a defence against the ravages of the sea. To get to the upper part of the island the easiest way to is take a lift which serves a a general carrier for people and goods. The ascent of 1000 feet opens up a new panorama. The wind topples your balance with a direct blast or swirls around you in a drunken daze.

A small flat sand dune looms across the rough shore waves, the Heligoland beach-isle which was connected with the Heligoland rocks up to the 18th century. The division was caused by the swamping of a passage between by the sea as a result of a terrible storm. The passage had been sunk during the previous centuries after the sale of the rock to the burghers of Hamburg.

Rising up among the houses is the spire of the church culminating in its point, a work of beauty. (An interesting feature of this church is the existence of a public footpath through its porch. It insinuates itself into the life of the people and encourages a sense of involvement.) Behind it bomb scarred and the sole surviving building of pre-1947 Heligoland, the light tower sends out its beams of direction at night. Exposed earth and half-built houses suggest hope for the future while the blurred forms of bunkers with tangled steel and broken concrete suggest other days.

Chequered history

Heligoland has had a chequered history, whose fate lay at different times in the hands of Denmark, England and Germany, and in the fortunes of the political game. In 1890 Germany got it from England in exchange for rights in East Africa. In spite of these changes in ownership the people, of Frisian origin, developed along their own lines with their own culture, their own customs and their own language, a Frisian dialect. During the first world war the island served as a harbour from which attacks were launched against England.

After the defeat of Germany all military installations on the island were destroyed. The development of the submarine gave importance to the island in 1939. First class workshops were built underground for the servicing of the submarines and, until it was bombed in 1944, it served as an important base in the execution of the war.

It lay in the English zone of control after the partition of Germany. In 1947 the English made an all-out effort to wipe it from the map. The inhabitants were evacuated to the mainland and the workshops, bunkers and everything else were blown up. The result was a mass of rubble.

The natives were forbidden to return and, until 1952, the English used it as a bombing target. However, in that year, students from Heidelberg university sailed to the island and defied the English to bomb them. Their action received much publicity in the press, resulting in a new approach to the island's fate. The inhabitants were allowed back on condition that the island would never have anything to do with war. The condition has no longer any relevance in the context of modern warfare.

Costly business

Since that year the people have returned to rebuild their homes. In the meantime hundreds have been rebuilt and the building program continues apace. It is a costly business when one realises that all materials have to be brought from the mainland. A small five-roomed house costs £25 to £30 a month to rent. The greater number are guesthouses and are built to make the most of the space. Electricity and central heating are laid on to each and the telephone is almost universal.

The inhabitants enjoy some privileges over their brothers on the mainland because they are outside the three-mile limit. Some groceries, alcohol, cigarettes and woollens are duty-free. Personal earnings are free of tax. Many of the islanders spend the holiday season on the island after having worked on the mainland during the winter.

Heligoland is famous for its lobster fishing from which many of the men make their living. The lobster is chiefly for export and the season begins usually in the middle of April. Lobster exports, with the exception of tourism, are the life-blood of the people.

The tourist season begins in May and lasts until September. During this period many Germans take their holidays there and an even greater number visit it as day tourists. At the height of the season about 8,000 people visit the island daily from Hamburg and Bremenhaven. In fact Bremhaven subsidises a ship which sails daily to Heligoland and, although it costs the city about DM1,000,000 a year the money is considered well spent..

The chief reason for the popularity of Heligoland lies in its distance from the German coast. It gives the suggestion of a voyage while still remaining on the doorstep. It offers freedom and endless expanses of water for many inland people. The sand dune provides first class conditions for sun-bathing and if the water is too cold there are heated swimming pools on the island.

It has also gained fame for something that has very little to do with the political game, exploding bombs or bathing. For many who know of Heligoland in no other respect, it is a byword in the world of ornithology. The island was the site of the first
station set up specially for the study of birds. In the last century a painter from Mark Brandenburg, Gaetke, went there to carry on his work. He was a great nature lover and had a detailed knowledge of birds and he began to observe the treasures at his disposal, for the island lies in the route of the two yearly migrations of birds in Europe: in spring from south-west and south to north-east, and in autumn from north-east to south-west.

The island serves as a resting place in the course of the flight between Denmark and Germany, and at night the birds are attracted to the island by the strong beam of the light-tower, visible for 30 miles. Gaetke studied the birds and after his death in 1891 his collection of birds was bought by the German government and his work carried on by the Biological Institute, which carries on research in marine life.

In 1910 the ornithological work became a separate section under an independent director and finally in 1923 a proper building was erected to accommodate the new work. This continued to expand until 1944 when the station was destroyed in an air-attack. In 1953 a new station was built but the administrative work, which had been transferred to Wilhelmshaven during the war, remained there.

The work of the station consists of catching, examining and ringing as many as possible of the birds that land on the island. They are ringed with an aluminium ring bearing the name Heligoland and a number. When the bird is set free it is hoped that someone, somewhere, will catch or find the bird and send back the information to the station. When the information is received, the flight of the bird is plotted and the length of time since the ringing is studied.

Time of ringing

This new information is entered with the earlier information concerning the kind, sex, weight, length of wing and age recorded at time of ringing. The information concerning a particular kind of bird is slowly added to and in the course of time its migratory habits known. The work is of interest to the layman as well as to the ornithologist. The bird he sees in his garden may be more interesting if something is known of where it came from and how it got there.

Many of the birds ringed in Heligoland make their way to Ireland but as yet no official contact has been established between the two places. Apart from the men who work in Heligoland there are also 3,000 amateur ornithologists scattered throughout Germany studying the birds in their areas and sending the information to Heligoland. For them the island is the focal point of their work and many of them visit it every year.

Heligoland is small, exceptionally small, and after a few hours seems to offer only such intangible things as beauty and health. One wants to move on quickly like the birds. However, it evokes an atmosphere of contentment that is experienced but cannot be explained. The people are friendly, give their service and you pay. In the houses one can experience monotony and the recreational opportunities are few, but somehow one is satisfied and each day brings its little changes to embroider the routine. On one of the piers is written the words 'Kumm Weer' dialect for 'Come again'. One has a vague feeling that perhaps one will.

<span class="postTitle">Civics and Ireland</span> The Secondary teacher, June 1966, Vol. 1 No. 6

Civics and Ireland

The Secondary teacher, June 1966, Vol. 1 No. 6

The proposed introduction of civics as a subject in Irish schools is a welcome addition to the curriculum. The fact that the majority of school-leavers finish their formal educa­tion without being instructed in their rights and duties as citizens is appalling. Admittedly, in so far as they are instructed in their religion, they have some kind of substitute. But it is not a sufficient substitute in so far as the Church and State have not identical ends. It would seem that the State is at last awakening to this fact and becom­ing aware of its responsibility in educating citizens. This "socialization process" is a phenomenon of the modern nation-state and can have good or bad repercussions depend­ing on the uses to which it is put. Its aims will be determined by the political and social circumstances of the state in question.

Many definitions of civics are available. Generally speaking, the aim of civics is to inculcate responsibility as a result of the recognition by the individual of his rights and duties. It includes educating the individual for a job; in this case, the job of being a good citizen. The man of our time is not an isolated individual living a self-sufficient existence in a primitive environ­ment. Rather is he a person whose actions have repercussions for a large number of people. In so far as this is so, his relations with other men must be regulated. The more complex these relations are the more sophisticated must be the regulations governing their behaviour. Side by side with this development of interdependence is the decline in individual independence.

These relations between man and man occur on different levels. There are relations with the family, the locality, the county, the employer, the State, and, in contem­porary times, the international environment. The more developed the society is the more complex will these relations be. Only an educated man is capable of understanding the ramifications of the rights and duties of such relations. It would be nearly true to say that the complexity of our present civilization has grown at a greater rate than the standard of education necessary to understand that civilization; fewer and fewer people understand how things work. The result is that people become more and more dependent and more subject to greater concentrations of power. In so far as it is possible, civics should aim at explaining these relations, informing the citizen on his rights and responsibilities, and giving him back some freedom.

Civics teaching will emphasise different things from state to state. In Ireland certain historical and social factors will dictate the emphasis. There is a strong authoritarian streak in our social experiences. Beginning in the family, the relation between parent and child is usually a one-way street; the child is to be seen but not heard. He does not contribute to family discussions; his remarks are at best tolerated. Growing up in this environment, his concept of the relation between authority and subject is one of power rather than persuasion. In school, a similar procedure obtains; his behaviour is ruled and his relaxations are "put in their place". If he toes the line of servitude he succeeds: if he is "unconven­tional" the world descends on him like a ton of bricks. Religion will play an important part in his life. His first experience with a minister of religion will probably be a happy one. However, as he grows in experience, he will find that religion is not a very personal thing: it is a rigidly laid down form of procedure. He will find that the position of the minister is one of authority. With a little study of history it will be easy for him to find the historical reasons for that position: the minister always held a position of leadership in the country and his word was law not only in religious matters but on political and social matters as well. The minister will have retained the position and the attitude of the only wise man. From this experience the growing child is confirmed in his concept of the relations between ruler and ruled : one of dictation.

When the child becomes an adult he will carry these attitudes into life with him. He may become a good subject or a severe master but he won't contribute much to the reasonable discussion of problems. This habit of the authoritarian approach to problems may be the cause of the failure of communi­cation between many sections of Irish life today. Here civics could play an important role in making mature men. By mature men I mean those who are capable of sitting down together, despite differing positions of authority, and solving mutual problems on the basis of the recognition of each other's rights. It entails eroding the feeling of in­security which is at the basis of the authoritarian attitude. When a man knows his rights, and knows that others know them, he will feel secure and will be less inclined to indulge in arbitrary behaviour towards his fellowmen. On the other hand, when he realises that his rights are preserved with the performance of his duties, he will have a greater incentive to perform the latter.

Civics is probably more important in Ireland today than ever before. The traditional centres of authority—the parent, the teacher, and the minister of religion— are gradually being eroded by the growing power of the state. The state is drifting deeper and deeper into socialism, even though we don't recognise it by that name. This is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, in Irish circumstances, where resources are at such a premium, the need for the State to distribute the wealth of the country may be desirable. But regardless of its desirability, an offshoot of the development is the tremendous increase in the power of the state. The state becomes the great giver of largesse and more and more of us become civil servants. This outcome gives the state more power in the direction of our lives. There does not seem to be any alternative to this development, even if it were to be desired.

In such a situation, the need for respon­sible citizens is greater than ever. If we accept the general direction of government, are we capable of questioning particular decisions? Do we sit back and accept un-questioningly directives from the elite of the civil service? The majority of us will be unable to keep ourselves informed on most matters of government. But we could make it our business to be acquainted with the matters that most closely concern ourselves; an educator ought to be able to discuss the Government's educational policy. Where does civics come in ? It was mentioned above that civics should contribute to the educa­tion of responsible citizens. If the awareness of this responsibility is inculcated in the school, the carry-over should be sufficient to develop the type of citizen recommended above.

This brings us to the actual teaching of civics. There was a court case in an Irish town recently in which a youth was found guilty of stealing. The lawyer for the defence claimed that the youth was really a good boy—he got 90 per cent, in the Christian Doctrine examination in his school. The logic was dubious; a person could get 100 per cent, in religion and yet never perform an act of religion. The same is true apropos of the teaching of civics. The subject could easily develop into a catechism; question and answer without meaning. This develop­ment can be avoided in a number of ways. Not only must civics be a subject in its own right, but it must be part of every subject. In her article Why Civics? Miss Nora Kelleher suggested many relevant ways in which this could be realised. But the teach­ing of civics must go further to be meaning­ful; it must include practice as well as theory. Naturally, making the subject prac­tical will be far more difficult than merely teaching theory; the textbook and the teacher are sufficient for the latter whereas a fundamental change of attitude will be necessary for the former. Making civics prac­tical will involve some kind of devolution of authority in the schools; students ought to be given responsibility as soon as possible. In some schools there is a prefect system; in others, senior students have separate rooms for study; in more, one finds the honour system taking various forms. Some of these have succeeded, others have failed. But whether success or failure has been their lot, they need to be informed with a new attitude from those in authority; they must be seen not as "liberal" concessions but as the rights of the students. It should be possible to have a graduated transfer of responsibilities as the student moves from the lower to the higher forms in the school so that, by the time he leaves, he will have been responsible for getting his final examination : the means will have been available in the form of teachers and facili­ties but the success will have been his because he has properly used the means at his disposal. If the student gets his training in the school, side by side with the under­lying theory, there is a good probability that fewer of his kind will be breaking beer bottles against the railing of St. Stephen's Green during their first year at university to prove that they don't give a damn about anything. It will also facilitate the entry of a boy or girl from a secondary school into a position of responsibility. They will have been trained in responsibility.

The task before teachers will by no means be easy. Initially, they may have to face failure. The material at their disposal will be coming from a background which does not contribute to the development of responsibility. To throw such children on their own principles will lead to early disillusionment. At the other end of the scale they will turn out students capable of some responsibility into a society that tends to regard responsible people as upstarts, "getting out of line". But regardless of the difficulties, the inculcation of responsibility must go ahead. It was mentioned above that the power of the state was growing side by side with the decline in the traditional areas of authority. At the present we are probably lucky in having two great centres of power, the Church and the State. One tends to balance out the worst effects of the other. But to have either one supreme would be to the detriment of the freedom of the ordinary citizen. Present indications would seem to point to the growing power of the State without necessarily a decline in the power of the Church.

In the face of this develop­ment, the need exists for the training of a greater number of alert, responsible citizens, people who, by their awareness of their rights and duties, will be able to offset this encroachment on their freedom. The teach­ing of civics has a fundamental part to play in the training of such citizens and teachers have an obligation to see that mature men are the end product of their efforts. Teachers have one other responsibility: they must ever be on their guard lest the teaching of civics be used for the propagation of some pernicious doctrine. It is their duty to make certain that the subject never becomes a tool in the hands of partisan politics. When teachers have fulfilled these obligations they can be assured that their students will do them credit on leaving school.

<span class="postTitle">The Comprehensive Idea</span> The Secondary Teacher, Dec. 1966, Vol. 1 No. 10

The Comprehensive Idea

The Secondary Teacher, Dec. 1966, Vol. 1 No. 10

(Some of the ideas expressed by Mr. King in this article are, to say the least, controversial. It is hoped, however, that they will lead to the discussion that the author himself asks for in his final sentence.—Editor.)

The idea of the comprehensive school has been in circulation since Dr. Hillery, then Minister for Education, initiated it in 1963. Later, when Mr. Colley took over the top position in education he expanded on the idea. His contribution was the assertion that there would be few new comprehensive schools but that the comprehensive idea would be realised through the fusion of the existing secondary and vocational systems. In September 1960, Mr. O'Malley, the new Minister for Education, announced the pro­vision of free post-primary education up to the Intermediate Certificate level.

These are the general guidelines available to anyone who wishes to .know about this new dimen­sion in Irish Education. The guidelines are so general that it is difficult to formulate in any precise terms what, the result will be. It would seem that the Minister's publication of the idea was an attempt to initiate discussion. In fact very little discussion has taken place, partly, perhaps, because we are not used to thinking about education. The result has been that the comprehensive idea although four years in circulation, is still shrouded in vagueness. Writing about it. therefore, will involve not only piecing together the limited information at our dis­posal but also making suggestions on the comprehensive idea that may contribute to a discussion that never really began.

A Department of Education information sheet has this to say about the comprehensive idea: Comprehensive education is a system of post - primary education combining academic and technical subjects in a wide curriculum, offering to each pupil an education structured to his needs and interests and providing specialist guidance and advice on the pupil's abilities and aptitudes. Equality of educational oppor­tunity is inherent in such a system. The comprehensive school serves such a pur­pose particularly well. The prosperity of a nation depends on the abilities of its people and it is therefore of paramount importance to seek out and develop the talents not just of the few who are intellectually gifted but of all the children. There is a need of all talents, in all their variety and diversity.

The comprehensive idea is an attempt to fuse the secondary and vocational levels in post-primary education that have existed for so long in cold isolation. "It involves," to quote from another Department communica­tion, "the, creation of a situation in which the type of education that is best suited to the needs, abilities and aptitudes of each individual pupil is provided. To do this it is essential that the educational development of each student should be presented with as wide a selection of subjects as possible so that he may be given the opportunity of develop­ing his talents to the fullest extent." The comprehensive idea is an attempt to intro­duce equality of educational opportunity. This involves two levels of equality : it is an attempt to erode the second-rate status of technical education by putting it on a par with its academic counterpart; as we shall see later, it sets out to provide educational opportunity for children living in areas of the country badly provided with post-primary educational facilities : the new comprehensive schools have been built in such areas.

There are other than educational reasons for the comprehensive idea. Education be­comes more important every day. What was good enough for the parents will not be good enough for the children. "Because of the tremendous discoveries of science in the past 25 years," Mr. George Colley. Minister for Education, said to the Carlow group of Pax Romana. in March. 1966. "the fabric of industrial and commercial life has been radically altered. The day is fast approach­ing when the worker without a particular skill will be unable to find employment." And it is not only for a job that we need to raise the level of education; it is also for leisure. The Minister continued : "There is another side of the immense scientific advance which we are now experiencing. There is the promise of greater leisure. The five-day week may well become a three-day week if man remains a rational being, that is, if he does not wipe himself out. Education will help us to get more pleasure from our free time."

Whether for educational, economic, social, or egalitarian reasons, there is a great neces­sity to expand our educational opportunities. The needs of the country demand that we no longer be satisfied with the talents of the privileged. We cannot afford to allow 17,000 children to leave school with nothing but a primary education. This is no indictment of primary education. Rather is it a recognition of the fact that primary education was never intended to cope with the complexities of the machine age. We still need saints and scholars but we need the type suited to a technological age.

How is the comprehensive idea to be implemented? The comprehensive system of edu­cation will be provided through the erection of new comprehensive schools, through the expansion of present secondary and voca­tional schools, and through the co-operation between the secondary and vocational school authorities in providing educational facilities. Already, four new comprehensive schools have been completed and they are to serve as guidelines for schools in the other categories. According to the Department of Education, there has been an excellent response to the Minister's request for co­operation between the secondary and vocational school authorities. Many meetings at local level have already been held and plans have been made in several cases for practical co-operation during the next school year. Problems of authority, arrangement of curricula, and movement of pupils, between centres have not been discussed.

The comprehensive school will be open to all pupils who have reached the age of 12 years. No form of selection is contemplated at this age. The school will offer a three-year course leading to the Intermediate Certificate examination and subsequent courses leading to the Leaving Certificate. Primary education, where comprehensive facilities exist, will end at the age of 12 and the pupil will continue his education in a comprehensive school to the age of 15 years, graduating, if he does not wish to continue further. After 1970, when compulsory edu­cation to the age of 15 will be introduced, this will apply to all pupils.

The Department rejects the principle of any selection at the age of 12 years. Although no investigation into the effects of "streaming" has been done in this country, research in other countries since World War II suggests that it is extremely doubtful if intelligence can be accurately measured at an early age. On the basis of this research, Mr. Colley, in the above-mentioned speech, said : "In regard to comprehensive schools, I have decided that there will be no stream­ing based on ability on entry. Nor will there be streaming at any time during the three-year period leading to the Intermediate Certificate examination." "Streaming" will be avoided but since it will be necessary to obtain some measure of the pupil's achieve­ment on entry so that he may be assigned to the class for each subject that best suits him at the time, the pupils will take achievement tests in Irish, English and Arithmetic. According to their achievement in each sub­ject separately they will be assigned to the appropriate class in that subject. Further­more, each pupil's potential will be measured shortly after entry and the results compared with those of the attainment tests. It will be possible in this way to recognise the pupils whose achievement does not measure up to their potential and steps will be taken to remedy their deficiencies. This investigation will be undertaken jointly by the teaching staff and the Department's psychological service.

The curriculum for the comprehensive school will contain a core group of studies which will be examined at the Intermediate Certificate examination. This group includes Irish. English, Mathematics, and a hand-and-eye subject. Also included in this com­pulsory core of subjects is Religious Instruc­tion, which will be subject to diocesan examination. As well as this core group required for the Intermediate Certificate examination, every pupil will be required to take ''courses of study in the following sub­jects : Social and Environmental Studies (which will incorporate Civics), Physical Education, Library projects, Singing and Musical appreciation. Optional subjects will include History and Geography, Continental languages, Latin, Greek, Commerce, Rural Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology.' The compulsory subjects will absorb some 21 hours of instruction time per week, leaving nine hours for optional subjects. The optional subjects are examination subjects and when the pupil has completed his three-year course in the subjects of his choice he can offer them in the Intermediate Certificate examination.

When the school-leaving age is raised to 1.5 years, every child in the country will have free education as far as the 'Inter­mediate Certificate level, regardless of his financial or intellectual ability. Those who wish to continue further will be streamed into the academic, commercial, or technical or apprentice scheme. Those of the academic stream will continue and take the Leaving Certificate examination. Those in the other streams will continue and take the Technical Schools' Leaving Certificate examination. The streaming will be based on the results of the expert investigation of the achieve­ments and interests of the pupil over the three-year period so that he will be able to make a realistic assessment of the goals he should set himself. If he decides to take a Leaving Certificate course, the compulsory core of subjects will be reduced. Christian Doctrine, Irish and English will remain, together with Physical Education, Musical appreciation, and Library projects. This reduction in the compulsory core will enable the student to give far more time to the subjects of his special interest. On the other hand, if the pupil decides to terminate his formal schooling at 15 years, the expert assessment of his strengths and weaknesses should be of considerable help to him in his choice of occupation.

In order to be able to continue his school­ing beyond the Intermediate Certificate level, the pupil will be dependent on either his own financial support or on financial aid from the State in the form of scholarships or grants. At this stage it is not yet known to what extent aid will be available to students of merit who have not the financial means of supporting their further education.

The issues involved in the proposed com­prehensive scheme could be broadly divided into two groups: issues concerning imple­mentation and those concerning education. According to the present Minister for Education. Mr. O'Malley, it is expected that this expansion of educational opportunity to the Intermediate Certificate level will cost the State in the region of two million pounds. As far as one can discover, that figure has been arrived at by multiplying the number of children to benefit by £25 and less. If that be the case, the Department of Education is failing to reckon the true cost of the implementation of this new scheme. Going comprehensive will involve a large increase in staff numbers. Apart from the need to expand the ordinary staff it will be necessary to employ trained people to teach the new subjects on the curriculum. In order to adequately and meaningfully assess pupils over the three-year period the Department will need to expand the num­bers employed in its psychological service. Documentation and filing on the develop­ment of a pupil will involve most schools with secretarial problems. As well as that, the introduction of wider curricula will mean an extension of facilities in most schools, apart from the need for such extension to cope with the probably increased number of entrants into post-primary education as from next September.

For the present, the brunt of the new changes rest with existing secondary and vocational schools. They are expected to co­operate in the sharing of facilities. Schools are fond of their autonomy and there is grave danger in this instance that individual schools, whether secondary or vocational, may be inclined to extend their own facilities to cater for the comprehensive programme, rather than share with a neighbouring school. If this were to happen it would in­volve duplication of facilities and be a waste of scarce money. Or if the nearest school, with which another can share facilities, is some way distant, there are bound to be transport or other problems involved in the movement of pupils from one centre to the other. Although the comprehensive idea is still in an early stage of development, these questions need to be discussed.

When we come to discuss the more edu­cational issues involved we have the Department's admission that the extension of post-primary education is due as much to social as to educational reasons. In so far as the former do not militate against the latter this aim is laudable enough. But in so far as, to quote from a statement by Dr. Hillery to the Press, when he was Minister for Educa­tion, "it is the duty of the State to strive for the opportunity of some post-primary educa­tion for all," the danger exists that educa­tional standards may have to be lowered in order to ensure expression of all ranges of ability. However, this danger may be avoided by the introduction of a grading system in assessing results in place of the existing honours-pass-fail method; any interested person scanning a pupil's achievement card in a comprehensive school will be able to distinguish between ;a pupil with straight A's and a pupil with an over-generous allowance of C's.

Another issue is the content of the core group of subjects. Even though the aim of the new system of education is to prepare better the student for the machine age, there seems to be a failure to take that very aim into consideration in the list of subjects in­cluded in the core group. A General Science course would seem to be of vital importance. It would defeat the comprehensive idea if the core group were enlarged, so that the alternative would be to drop one of the subjects already included. Mathematics would seem the least indispensible. and a General Science course ought to be included in its place. Mathematics is important in many higher areas of education, but the student who thinks he may need it at a later stage could take it as one of his options.

The failure to make History more than an optional subject is another case in point. The fact that we may never learn from His­tory is no guarantee of its unimportance. It is the subject that can best give perspective and cohesion to a whole education. For that reason it is sad to witness its present decline in secondary schools. One of the chief reasons for this decline seems to be the diffi­culty of getting high marks in it at an examination with its resultant liability as a scholarship subject. However, in the com­prehensive idea where the pupil gets not only the opportunity to develop fully his potentialities but also a broad general edu­cation without specialisation, it is a highly relevant subject. The fact that local history is included in the Social and Environmental studies course is not sufficient. Something more is needed. It might be possible to in­clude one hour a week on general history, a History-of-Western-Civilisation course trac­ing our cultural evolution from its be­ginnings to the present day. This could be done over the three-year period in a way meaningful to the age-groups involved. It would be compulsory for all those taking History as an optional subject.

For the present, the burden of implement­ing the comprehensive idea depends on the fusion of secondary and vocational levels of education. This is very well in theory but in practice it is conceivable that both systems will continue to perpetuate themselves; the vocational school could continue to provide essentially vocational subjects, with occasional gestures to the academic side of the picture, while the secondary school could make the necessary bow by taking mechanical drawing out of the basement and giving it a classroom of its own. If this were to happen, the students that begin in one of the systems, when they are better suited to the other kind, may never get the oppor­tunity to develop to their fullest potential. To prevent such an occurrence, care must be taken that the widest possible choice of subjects be available to the largest number of pupils as soon as possible.

The dependence of the comprehensive idea on a secondary-vocational fusion may have repercussions after the Intermediate Certificate examination. The tendency could well be for those pupils attending vocational schools who continue beyond this stage to take the Technical Schools' Leaving Certifi­cate. In so far as no higher facilities exist and in so far as universities continue to accept students from the academic stream only, such a pupil may well find himself in an educational cul-de-sac, or at most with a ticket to a technological college of inferior status to a university. The State has a duty to expand facilities for higher technological education and to upgrade colleges of tech­nology to university status. Otherwise, students who pursue such a course of studies will be relegated to second-class status when they proceed beyond the Technical Schools' Leaving Certificate.

Probably the greatest criticism that can be made of the comprehensive idea, as en­visaged by the Government, is its haphazard-ness. It is to be allowed to evolve out of the existing systems. The vested interests of the existing educational structure may prevent the comprehensive idea from being im­plemented. The danger exists that in the permitted laissez-faire schools will strive to become comprehensive in name by adding to their present curricula. There is the possi­bility of a great waste of money in this situation, especially in rural areas where there is an excess of small schools. Along ten miles of a road it is possible to find eight schools catering for smaller and larger num­bers of pupils. The tendency for each will be to go comprehensive alone. A more logical development would be the sharing of facilities initially and the eventual incor­poration of all into one. Admittedly, some sharing is already taking place, but how is this sharing going to lead to the fusion en­visaged? If the fusion is to be meaningful it must lead to the eventual amalgamation of schools in an area under one authority. What school will vote for its extinction? (It is only fair to mention here that the Govern­ment seems to have the problem under consideration. A recent decision on their part involves the closing of some secondary schools and permission for others to teach classes up to Intermediate Certificate only.)

This introduces the idea of the neighbour­hood school which ought to be the eventual aim of the Department of Education. The evolution of the school system to this end would have many advantages. It would in­troduce a definite goal to be achieved and give direction to existing developments. It would lead to a better use of resources be­cause, apart from preventing the duplication of facilities, especially scientific laboratories, it would enable the Department, by taking account of demographic projections in the area concerned, to invest accordingly. As things stand, it is conceivable that a school, or schools, may expand to suit present population needs only to find themselves in ten years time with empty classrooms.

But the neighbourhood school, catering for all pupils in a certain area, would have other advantages. It would make the school a part of the local community as much as the primary school is today. It would enable a meaningful parent-teacher organisation to get off the ground. This is one thing that is barely hinted at in the proposed comprehen­sive scheme, the role of the parents. In many other countries parents play an important part in the education of their children. The recent Plowden Report on Primary Educa­tion in England recommended, among other things, closer relations between schools and parents. In Ireland, parents seem to abdicate their responsibility when they send their children to school. If parents were available for consultation on a regular and formal basis, they could be of great help to teachers and psychologists in arriving at a correct assessment of a pupil. If the neighbourhood school, incorporating one parish, or more where numbers are small, were in existence, parents could get such an opportunity to express themselves and to contribute to their children's welfare.

One other point is relevant in this context. The neighbourhood school would be a day-school. According to present intentions, ex­pensive boarding schools will continue to exist, with the students paying their own fees. These fee-paying students are in danger of becoming the snobs of our educational system. (However, this development might be avoided if the State were to endow lavishly the schools it takes under its wing. Because there is very little financial patron­age of schools in this country by Old Boys or Old Girls, the fee-charging school might find it difficult to finance expensive expan­sion.) The neighbourhood school, if properly developed, could become the pride of the community. Parents, who ordinarily might be inclined to send their children to expen­sive boarding schools, might come to accept as a substitute for their snobbish inclinations, the fact of their children playing an impor­tant role in the curricular and extra­curricular activities of their neighbourhood school. This would be even more probable if parents were allowed a meaningful role in parent-teacher organisations. There are other possibilities in Boards of Governors and Scholarship Committees, etc.

The Department of Education claims that the comprehensive idea is more than the mere expansion of a curriculum and involves more than the teaching of a wide range of subjects. It is a new dimension in Irish Education. As such it is to be welcomed by all those who regard the present educational set-up as inadequate to present day needs. But the comprehensive idea is by no means a clearly thought-out system; it is still very much in the crawling stage and, before it can walk, it will demand the nurture of much discussion. It is to be hoped that all those, with a genuine interest in education, will contribute to that discussion.

<span class="postTitle">Tipperary’s Prominence in the Gaelic Athletic Association</span> G.A.A. Centenary Celebrations 1984

Tipperary’s Prominence in the Gaelic Athletic Association

G.A.A. Centenary Celebrations 1984

1. The G.A.A. was founded in Thurles on November 1, 1884 and while seven has traditionally been accepted at the number of persons present on the occasion in Hayes’s Hotel, it is now widely accepted that the number present was thirteen. While Clare man, Michael Cusack, was the inspiration behind the foundation, the great majority of those present were from Tipperary. They included Maurice Davin from Carrick-on-Suir, James K. Bracken from Templemore, Joseph P. O’Ryan Carrick-on-Suir, Inspector St. George McCarthy, though born in Kerry, was reared and educated in Tipperary and lived in Templemore, William Foley, Carrick-on-Suir, and Thurles residents, T. K. Dwyer, Charles Cullinane, William Delahunty, John Butler and Michael Cantwell.

2. Carrick-on-Suir man, Maurice Davin, was the first President of the G.A.A. Three other Tipperary men became President, Sean Ryan 1928-32, Seamus Gardiner 1943-46, Seamus O’Riain 1967-70.

3. Two Tipperary men were General Secretary (today, Ard Stiúrthóir) of the G.A.A., William Prendergast, Clonmel, 1888-1889, and Patrick Roger Cleary, Lagganstown, New Inn, 1889-1890.

4. Tipperary, represented by Thurles, won the first hurling All-Ireland, the 1887, played at Birr on April 1, 1888, beating Galway by 1-1 to nil.

5. W. J. Spain (1865-1936), Moanfin, Cloughjordan was the first man to win All-Irelands in hurling and football. Having gone to work in Limerick at an early age, he joined the Commercials Club and was selected on the Limerick team that won the first football All-Ireland in 1887. Limerick beat Louth by 1-4 to 0-3 in the final, with Spain scoring the goal, the first to be scored in an All-Ireland final. Two years later he was on the Dublin team that beat Clare in the 1899 hurling final by 5-1 to 1-6, with Spain scoring three goals for his side, and becoming the first dual All-Ireland winner.

6. James Stapleton, Thurles, was the first hurling All-Ireland winning captain.

7. The first inter-county hurling match between selected sides, rather than club sides, was played at Clonturk Park, Dublin on June 8, 1890, when Tipperary met Dublin and won by 1-7 to 0-1. The Tipperary hurlers wore white singlets with the words ‘United Tipp’ emblazoned on them in green.

8. Tipperary were the first county to win hurling and football All-Irelands in the same year. They did this in 1895 beating Kilkenny in hurling and Meath in football. Both finals were played in Croke Park on March 15, 1896.

9. The brothers, Paddy and Jim Riordan from Drombane, were members of the Tipperary teams that won the two All-Irelands in 1895, Paddy, playing with Tubberadora in the hurling All-Ireland, is credited with the team’s total of 6-8. Ten years later he won a second All-Ireland with the Thurles Selection in the 1906 final. His brother, Jim, won an All-Ireland football medal in 1895, when Arravale Rovers defeated Navan O’Mahony’s in the final.

10. Denis Walsh won five All-Ireland hurling medals with 21 years between the first and the last. He won the 1895, 1896 and 1898 titles with Tubberadora, the 1899 with Horse and Jockey and the 1916 with Tipperary (Boherlahan).

11. Both 1895 All-Irelands were the first to be played in Croke Park, then known as Jones’s Road.

12. The G.A.A. promoted athletics as much as hurling and football in the early years. James M. Ryan, Ballyslateen, Golden set up a world record in the high jump at 6ft 41/2in in the G.A.A. sports at Tipperary in August 1895. Tom Kiely of Ballyneale, Carrick-on-Suir was the All-Round gold medal in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, U.S.A.

13. At the first Munster Council meeting, held at Mallow on June 30, 1901, Dick Cummins of Fethard was elected President (chairman).

14. The All-Ireland winners of 1887 didn’t receive their medals until the end of 1911. No provision was made in 1887 for such expenditure and the money to purchase them wasn’t provided until the 1911 Munster Convention. The first photograph of the winning team – at least some of them – was taken on the occasion.

15. Tipperary won the first junior football All-Ireland, which was played in 1912. They defeated Louth by 1-4 to 1-3 in the final played at Jones’s Road, Dublin.

16. Tipperary were the first team to win the so-called hurling ‘Triple Crown’, winning the senior, junior and minor All-Irelands in 1930, defeating Dublin in the senior and Kilkenny in the junior and minor finals.

17. Tipperary, together with Cork, took part in the first hurling tour to Europe. This happened in 1910 when both teams were invited by the Pan-Celtic Congress to Brussels to give an exhibition of hurling. Tipperary, led by Tom Semple of Thurles, won the first of two games by 5-0 to 3-0, but lost the second, which was played on the battlefield of Fontenoy.

18. The first All-Ireland final in which teams of 15 took part was the 1913 hurling decider between Tipperary and Kilkenny at Jones’s Road on November 2. Kilkenny (Moincoin) defeated Tipperary (Toomevara) by 2-4 to 1-2

19. Tipperary were the first county hurling team to travel to the U.S. when they went on a ten-week tour in 1926. This trip visited New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. They were also the next team to visit the West coast in 1931 and the third team to do so in 1972.

20. Tipperary won the Golden Jubilee All-Ireland hurling final in 1937, when they defeated Kilkenny by 3-11 to 0-3 at Killarney. The reason for taking the game outside Dublin was because of work on the new Cusack Stand at Croke Park had been delayed because of a building strike.

21. One of the great hurling families of the country was the Leahy family of Tubberadora. Four of the family won All-Irelands. The oldest, Johnny, captained Tipperary to two All-Irelands, five Munster titles and one National Hurling League success. Sharing the same successes was his brother, Paddy. A third member, Mick, won an All-Ireland with Tipperary in 1916 and then, having moved to Cork and joining the famous Blackrock club, won two more All-Irelands with his adopted county, in 1928 and 1931. The youngest member of the family, Tommy, won an All-Ireland with Tipperary in 1930.

22. A Tipperary hurler was the first man to captain three All-Ireland hurling teams. Mikey Maher of the famous Tubberadora team captained Tipperary to three All-Ireland titles, in 1895 against Kilkenny, in 1896 against Dublin and in 1898 against Kilkenny.

23. Tipperary is the only county to win a senior hurling title in every decade since the foundation of the G.A.A.

24. The attendance at the 1945 All-Ireland between Tipperary and Kilkenny was 69,459, the first time the 60,000 mark had been surpassed

25. John Doyle is the only hurler with 11 National League medals. They were won in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965.

26. In 1958 Tony Wall was the first recipient of the Caltex Award, predecessor of the Texaco and the Hurler of the Year Award

27. Tipperary played in the first hurling match to be broadcast,. The occasion was the replay of the 1926 Munster final against Cork at Thurles. The match ended in a draw. When Tipperary won the All-Ireland hurling final of 1971, it was the first game to by televised in colour by RTE

28. Tipperary were the first county to win the under-21 All-Ireland title, when they defeated Wexford by 8-9 to 3-1 in the final at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny on October 4, 1964.

29. Tipperary hurler, Jimmy Doyle, played in four minor All-Irelands. He lost the first to Dublin in 1954 as a goalkeeper and won the remaining three as a forward, against Galway in 1965 and against Kilkenny in 1956 and 1957.

30. Semple Stadium, Thurles was the venue for the G.A.A. Centenary All-Ireland 1984.

31. Roscrea were the first team to win the All-Ireland club championship, when they defeated St. Rynagh’s, Banagher in the 1970 final, which was played at Birr on December 19, 1971. The final score was 4-5 to 2-5.

32. Tipperary were first winners of the under-20 All-Ireland hurling championship in 2019, defeating Cork by 5-17 to 1-18 at Limerick.