The profile for country:
Island of Ireland |
National coordinators:
Evelyn Cardwell
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Additional information:
Our migration history
The island of Ireland has a long history of migration. One of the most active periods was the 17th century, when large numbers of English and Scottish Protestant settlers arrived in the northern part of Ireland.
During the 18th and 19th century, emigration predominated when people travelled mainly to the United States of America. This exodus was initially Protestant, but increasingly the Catholic population began to emigrate, reaching its peak during the Great Famine 1845-49. In the 20th century the number of emigrants to America declined, and England became the main destination.
Although there has been some immigration, mainly from Asia, in the last century, numbers of immigrants have begun to increase markedly in the last 10 years.
The long experience of migration history in Ireland, provides a sound basis for our pupils to empathise with recent immigrants.
Education System
Partly as a reflection of its migration history the education system is often segregated on a religious basis. Most schools are either predominantly Catholic or predominantly Protestant, although in the past 20 years the Integrated Schools movement has increasingly encouraged the growth of non-denominational schools.
Pupils in Ireland change schools at age eleven to twelve years, and remain in full-time education until the age of 16, and usually until 18 years of age.
Project partners and members
The group of schools involved in the project represent a wide cross-section of the education system, including schools from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Protestant, Catholic and Integrated Schools, and primary and post-primary schools. In the Republic of Ireland we have Loreto College, a girls Catholic post-primary school and Monaghan Collegiate, a Protestant, mixed gender post-primary school.
In the City of Derry in Northern Ireland participating schools are St Mary's College, a Catholic girls post-primary school and a nearby feeder school, St John's Primary School, a mixed gender Catholic school. This provides an opportunity for these pair of schools to look in detail at the process of movement (migration) of their pupils from primary to post-primary (secondary school). Both schools are situated in a deprived area of Derry city and work very hard to ensure a outward looking, quality education for their pupils.
The Southern Education and Library Board is one of 5 local education authorities in Northern Ireland and its advisory staff are working with two schools, a state (mainly Protestant) primary school and an Integrated post-primary school, on the theme of emigration and citizenship.
The island of Ireland group is co-ordinated by the Ulster American Folk Park/Centre for Migration Studies in Omagh, Northern Ireland. The Folk Park is an open air museum of emigration from Ireland to America and is supported by the Centre for Migration Studies which has a comprehensive archive of emigration related books and periodicals and digitised primary sources. Our special interest in this Project is in the area of citizenship and the use of our past history to enable us to develop respect, tolerance and empathy with and between the varied communities in Ireland, whether they are recent arrivals or long established setters.
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