Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/853

* IRELAND. 757 IRELAND. Epi.scopal Church received a small annual bounty. The Church has 5 synods, 36 presbyteries, and 572 churches. The following table shows the relative strength of the four leading denominations in the different provinces and the tendency of eacli for the last iorty years of the nineteenth century. It will be seen that even in Ulster the Catholic Church •outnumbers any of the others, and in the prov- inces of Munster and Connaught the non-Catholic elements constitute but a very small fraction of the population. The extreme northeast coun- ties of Londonderry. Down. Armagh, and Antrim liave a larger non-Catholic than Catholic popu- lation. PROVINCES Year Catholic Episco- palian Presby- Metho- terian j dist Leinster Munster Ulster Connaught 1861 1901 1861 1901 1861 1001 1861 1901 1.252..500! 180..500 981.000; 141.000 1.420,000, 80,800 1,007.200; 55.900 966.600 391 .300 699.000 359.900 666.000 40,600 622.600 22.400 12,300 11,7.35 4,000 3,300 ,503,800 426 170 3,088 2,270 6.290 7.650 4.4,30 4,770 32.000 47.100 2.640 1.6.50 Total Total 1861 1901 4.305.100 i.309.800 693,200 579,200 523,188 443.475 45.360 61.170 The Methodists are the only sect that did not show a decrease during the period, while the per- centage of loss was greatest for tlie Catholics, In the last decade of the century the Catholics lost 6.7 per cent, of their membership, the Epis- copalians 3. .5 per cent., the Presbyterians 0.3 per cent., and the Methodists increased 10.4 per cent. The greater decrease of the Catholic population is due to the fact that the Catholics emigrate in larger numbers than the Protestants. See table under Population. Education. In the establishment of an educa- tional system in Ireland, as in many other coun- tries, religion has been a seriously disturbing factor. Such educational advantages as were ofl'ercd the Irish children by the Government ■were thoroughly dominated by the idea of mak- ing them Protestants and essentially British, and consequently these advantages were shunned by all Catholics. At the same time laws passed in the reigns of William III. and Queen Anne made it a penal otTense for Catholics to teach or to send their children abroad to be educated. Catho- lic teacliing. however, was carried on in violation of the law. such schools being known as 'hedge schools.' A great deal of money from both private and Government sources was expended on education during the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, most of it being t-xpendcd through the prosclvting societies. The Charter Schools, founded in 1733, and the Asso- ciation for the Prevention of Vice, founded in l.SOO. received Government grants, while the London Hibernian Society, founded in 1805, and the Baptist Society. establishe<l in 1814. were supported mainly from subscriptions. The Eras- mus Smith schools, dating from 1657. were en- dowed. A Catholic congregation — the Christian Brothers — was founded in 1802 for the purpose of teaching, and later attained considerable im- portance. In 1811 the Kildare Place Society was founded, and after 1814 received Government subsidies. This society introduced the policy of limiting religious instruction to Bible-reading. In 181!) the Government began to make grants to schools established by voluntary subscriptions without regard to religion. In 1831-34 the so- called National System of education was estab- lished. Under this system secular instruction was given to children assembled together without distinction of creed, but it was provided that they should be separated for purposes of religiou-s instruction, which should be given by the pastors of the respective local churches. At first the Catholics took kindly to the system, the Episco- palians and Presbvterians being opposed to it. However, concessions were made to the Protes- tants, and a proselj-ting spirit wa.s allowed to creep into the secular teaching. The Catholics were unable to prevent this, owing to their small representation on the board of commissioners in charge; while the Church condemned it, demand- ing (1850) separate education, and forbidding Catholic children from attending Protestant in- struction. In 1861 the Catholic meml)ership upon the board was made equal to the Protestant. At present the system is divided for the most part along denominational lines. The children of the different religious faiths generally go to schools taught by teachers of their own faith. In 1S99 the Protestant pupils in scheols taught by Catholic teachers numbered only 5.3 per cent, of the total in attendance, and only 9.8 per cent, of the pupils in schools under Protestant teachers were Catholics. A comparatively small number of schools were taught by both Catholic and Prot- estant teachers, and the attendance at these was more evenly divided between the different reli- gious faiths. No child is allowed to attend a religious exercise of a denomination other than his own except upon the written request of the parent. The Irish educational system differs radically from the English, in that the former is so com- pletely under the control of the central admin- i^tl■ation. The regulating of teachers' salaries, determining the course of instructions, furnish- ing schools with supplies, including books, and even the erecting of a certain class of buildings, are all matters in the hands of the central board. The provision of text-books by the State follows from its policy of not allowing religious ques- tions to be raised in secular teaching, and from the desire to prevent the fostering of sentiments out of harmony with Tmi)erial unity. The omis- sion of Irish patriotic songs and of Irish his- tory naturally subjects the administration to much criticism. The supervision of the system is secured by dividing the country into districts and assigning an inspector and corps of sub- inspectors to each division. Since 1892 there has been a compulsory school law, the compulsory period being from six to fourteen. The law is, however, not well enforced. Illiteracy is decreasing throughout the coimtry, the per cent, of persons five years and over who could neither read nor write having decreased from 25.2 in 1881 to 18.4 in 1891. and to 13.7 in 1001. Illiteracy is much the most prevalent in Connaught. where in the last year it amovmted to 20.7. The per cent, among the Catholics was over twice as great as for any of the Protestant sects. In December. 1900. there was a total of 8684 schools, attended by 559. .i20 Roman Catholic pupils. 88.675 Protestant Episcopal pupils, and 07,666 others, mostly I'lster Presbvterians. In the preceding year only 64.5 per cent, of the en- rollment was in average attendance. Xo special provision is made by the Government for second-