Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 11 October 2012

“Technical Memories (Part 30) –The Fallacies of Education”

“People must once and for all get rid of the fallacy that Ireland is a land of scholars, and also of the idea that scholarship is nothing more that knowing the grammar of one or two languages and the ability to recite a certain number of lines of poetry, or to pass certain examinations. Nor would anything be lost if the too prevalent idea were killed that the sole purpose of education is to qualify for civil service or public jobs. Of course if education generally were directed on more practical lines such an idea could not survive, and students, when they left school, would be more inclined to continue the study of useful branches in their spare time” (Editorial, Cork Examiner, 1 October 1924).

In an editorial in the Cork Examiner on 1 October 1924 on the value of Adult Education, it opened with commenting on the continuing growing interest in adult education in the United States. Indeed America’s National Education Association (NEA) was created in 1870 and had a strong history of the promotion of lifelong learning. The editor of the Cork Examiner argued that in the cities and larger towns of the Irish Free State, it was a regrettable fact that “comparatively little interest was taken, either by the educational authorities or the people in general, in a movement which, outside of Ireland had made great advancement”.  The active interest in education that was there 25 years previously did not exist. The editor further noted; “Anybody has only to pass through the principal street of the city between eight and ten o’clock to see hundreds of young people strolling about who would be much more usefully employed learning the elements of house-keeping, dress-making, gardening, or perhaps, some more literary branches. And besides those who have only left school, there are hundreds-even thousands-whose spare time could be put to better purpose… a large amount of money is expended on education in this country, a portion of which, in the opinion of many, might be more usefully employed in the provision of continuation classes or schools”.

The editorial goes on to describe that some years previously a certain amount of money was expended on nights classes in country towns and rural villages. The curricula under the County schemes were not very extensive, yet some degree of progress was attained, which promised better things as time went on. According to the editor, “the disturbed state of the country killed these classes for a time”, but there was now an opportunity for revival on a large scale.

Certainly at the Crawford Municipal Technical Institute, the management committee meetings during 1924 reveal a financial deficit and fall off in numbers attending classes. These problems were common-place across the technical institutes in the country as the Irish Free State tried to move away from civil war and build an economic structure for the country.  It is revealed through a response by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in early July 1924 that the committee did apply for extra funding for its county and city based programmes. Subsequently, the work of the Cork institute was inspected. The Cork committee was successful in attaining a contribution by the Department towards the County schemes of £2,277 16s 1d. The Department regretted that they were unable to sanction any increases in salary other than those in accordance with approved scales and were unable to consider further increases until the funds of the committee were capable of meeting the expenditure involved by such increases. They hoped that through “exercising rigid economy in its administration” and by improved attendances at the classes that the Cork committee may be able to surmount the difficulties. The Department also pointed out that at least twenty hours’ teaching per week was, as a general rule, required of all whole-time teachers, while classes at which the attendance on four successive lessons had fallen below six, had to, unless in special circumstances, be withdrawn from the curriculum.

By October 1924, there were some efforts to increase class attendances and the Cork Committee sat down with several members of the Cork Workers’ Council. The Council was based at the Mechanics’ Hall, Grattan Street and later at Father Mathew Quay. There was a good response from the various unions in the direction of asking as many apprentices as possible to attend technical education classes. Hence the typographical class was able to raise its numbers to 20- a proportion that had never been reached before. However, the full equipment in the class, machinery etc was missing. A number of articles had been robbed from the school a few years previously. It was noted at the committee meeting that it would cost £309 10s 0d to replace the articles removed. There was also a proposal to utilise the services of the Domestic economy staff for short courses during the month of June. The Inspector’s report also noted that the rooms were defective to hold classes and that ventilation was poor in several domestic economy rooms. However, any changes would have had to coincide with structural alterations to the building.

To be continued…

Caption:

662a. Advertisement for Cashes & Co. Cork, October 1924 (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 

Cork Independent, 3 October 2012 

“Technical Memories (Part 29) Passing under a Shadow”

“It has been a triumph for Ireland and there is no part of it which has proved itself with more success than the statutory committees of Agriculture and Technical Instruction… at a time when the name of Ireland is passing under a shadow, a shadow from which it will emerge, I point to this actual experience, taking the rough with the smooth, during more than twenty-five years of our committees of Agriculture and Technical Instruction” ( Thomas Patrick Gill, Department Secretary, Cork Examiner, 10 April 1923, p.8).

Returning to the theme in this column of the Crawford Municipal Technical Institute, it continued to function during the Irish War of Independence. Certainly the reports that exist in the journals of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction focus more on food shortages and the efforts to turn the sod of 800,000 acres into a national food supply. Very little documentation survives to tell the story of the Institute during those years straddling the 1910s and early 1920s. Nationally, during the Irish War of Independence, the consequences were a shortage of teachers and the slowing down of the building of technical school projects across the country. Students continued to attend the Cork institute. A reference at an annual award ceremony highlighted that in the mechanical engineering section, 240 sat examinations, 63 per cent of which were successful.

It is recorded that during the Irish Civil War that part the national army was stationed at the Institute during August and September 1922. A claim was furnished to the government by the Institute’s governing committee looking for compensation, of which £200 was sent on at the end of 1923. The National Army, sometimes unofficially referred to as the Free State army, was the army of the Irish Free State from January 1922 until October 1924. Its role in this period was defined by its service in the Irish Civil War, in defence of the institutions established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Michael Collins, was the army’s first chief of staff from its establishment until his death in August 1922. The National Army was greatly expanded in size to fight the civil war against the anti-Treaty IRA, in a mostly counter-insurgency campaign that was brought to a successful conclusion in May 1923.

Reports during the last six months of 1923 reveals insights to large scale damage during the Civil War to the city and county’s infrastructure, everything from glass in street lamps to the damage of railway lines. A reference at a Corporation of Cork Committee in early June 1923 highlight that 650 panes of glass on lamps had been broken . The secretary of the Cork Chamber of Commerce, M. O’Herlihy, in his annual report in November 1923, writes about the affects of the prolongation of industrial disputes in the city and the destruction of key trunk roads and railway bridges leading to millions of pounds lost to the local economy. Farmers, cattle traders, manufacturers, merchants and workers were being hit in their pockets finacially. For example owing to the prolonged delay in the rebuilding of Mallow Railway Bridge, the Cork Chamber pioneered the movement for the speeding up of plans, specifications and contracts for its reconstruction. The old service of trains from Cork to Dublin was restored on the Cork-Dublin line, and the break at Mallow no longer increased the cost of transport of goods.

However, business was as usual in the Crawford Technical Institute. Mr. D. Daly used the Technical Institute during the month of July 1923 for Irish classes for National Teachers.  The result of Cork Corporation’s University Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering was revealed, with Jermiah O’Mahony of Douglas Road received the highest number of marks for the scholarship. There were six candidates. A debate took place on a scheme of schools visits by City students to the School of Art, the Technical Institute, and the Museum of the University College. In 1922, five hundred pupils from primary and secondary schools of the city paid visits to the latter sites. However, the Institute had to suspend the programme due to the Civil War. There was also a fear amongst schools that the programme would interfere with the school hours and place an additional burden on teachers. The scheme was purely voluntary but had sanctioning from the Education Department. It was to take place on Friday afternoons. Mr Daly outlined: “The idea was to bring the children of Cork into vital touch with their surroundings – to make them feel that they are our future citizens and that it is their duty and interest to know something about its history, its geography, its art, its music, its commerce and its educational institutions. We must train our young people to fix their attention on their own country and to give up the habit of constantly looking eastwards to England for light and guidance”.

To be continued…

Cork Docklands Historical Walking Tour with Kieran this Saturday, 6 October, leaving at 2pm from Shalom Park (playground), in front of Bord Gáis. Also applications are still been taken for the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project 2012/13, see www.corkheritage.ie

Caption:

661a. Repaired viaduct over Douglas estuary, Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway Line c.1923 (source: Cork City Library)