University of Galway

Course Module Information

Course Modules

Semester 2 | Credits: 10

Attention has only recently been devoted to the experiences of the child in the historiography of nineteenth and twentieth century Ireland. This seminar will examine the care of children by the British and Irish State from the 1838 Poor Law Relief Act (Ireland) to the present, concentrating on issues of class, gender and religion. It will assess not only the State’s treatment of vulnerable children, but also its agencies and other charitable and voluntary organizations involved in child welfare provision. It will utilize a wide range of primary materials, including state papers, official debates and publications, newspaper articles, court records, case files, records of voluntary and charitable organizations, photographs, films and memoirs. It will address not only the treatment of children, but changing notions of childhood in Ireland during the period. The module will begin by looking at what is childhood, why is it worthy of study and how has it changed. Following this, we will look at the Poor Law system and ‘poor law children’ in the nineteenth century. Attention will then be placed on the development of orphanages by religious orders, the foundation and expansion of the industrial and reformatory school systems, the introduction of compulsory education, and the foundation of the child protection agencies. From the late nineteenth-century, the subject of Irish nationalism and children’s culture will be examined – as well as the experience of children during the 1913 lockout. Why and how children became the focus of social reformers will be considered, as will the effects of legislation on families and on parental rights specifically. In Independent Ireland, the continued use of institutionalization to deal with children in poverty and those outside of the nuclear family will be addressed, as will the relationship between the Catholic Church and the State. The treatment of unmarried mothers and ‘illegitimate’ children are central to this assessment. Although primarily addressing the ‘public’ child, the seminar will also look at the ‘private’ child, concentrating on the development of education, leisure and changing conceptions of childhood in the period. Adolescence is a key aspect to this – and teenagers will be looked at near the end of the course with a focus on sub-cultures like the Teddy Boys in Ireland. The seminar will conclude with a look at representations of childhood in film, memoir and literature, and a look at the local and global situation.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. To complete an essay based on primary source materials.
  2. To understand the history of childhood and youth.
  3. To complete a ten minute oral presentation.
Assessments
  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Teachers
Reading List
  1. "Mother and child: Maternity and child welfare in Dublin, 1922–60" by Lindsey Earner-Byrne
    Publisher: Manchester University Press
  2. "Precarious Childhood in Post-independence Ireland" by Moira Maguire
    Publisher: Manchester University Press
  3. "History of the Present: Child Protection and Welfare Social Work in Ireland" by Caroline Skehill
    Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press
  4. "Children of the Poor Clares – the story of an Irish orphanage" by Arnold, Mavis and Heather Laskey
    Publisher: Appletree Press
  5. "Irish Industrial Schools, 1868-1908: Origins and Development" by Jane Barnes
    Publisher: Irish Academic Press
The above information outlines module HI578: "Children and the State in Ireland, 1838 - 2011" and is valid from 2018 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.