Restarting Catholic Education in Secular Ireland

As has happened elsewhere in recent decades in Western Christianity, the Republic of Ireland has experienced dramatic secularization, moving from a widely pious society which gave Pope John Paul II a tumultuous welcome in 1979, and passing a constitutional amendment banning abortion (Amendment 8) at about the same time (1983), to its repeal 35 years later in a national referendum by a two-thirds majority vote, along with national approval for same-sex marriage. Such a dramatic change after centuries of loyalty to Roman Catholicism was in large measure precipitated by a massive scandal of clerical sexual abuse and a changed economy far more oriented to high technology based on American investment than the traditional rural society.

This change has had a massive influence on Catholic education in Ireland, with most schools now either state schools, or state supported private schools with a Catholic background. Padraig Cantillon-Murphy, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at University College Cork, Ireland, spoke at the Catholic Information Center on June 29 regarding a new third alternative – private Catholic schools independent of the state – implemented through the Saints & Scholars Foundation. This is hoped to bring about a revival of Catholic classical education in Ireland, and even internationally.

The 1990s and 2000s were a “very difficult time” for the Catholic Church, particularly in Ireland, and especially for Catholic education in Ireland, Cantillon-Murphy said. Changes at that time in Ireland “were at such a pace” that future historians will wonder how it happened. Currently, a hate speech law is pending in Parliament, and may well pass, which will have enormous implications for Catholic education and the teaching of Christian doctrine generally. “There is a great fear that it is essentially a muzzle on things like gender theory,” he said.

Ireland as a Historic Bastion of Catholicism

This situation, however, is a return to part of Ireland’s past. “We have been in the dark ages before,” Cantillon-Murphy said. He pointed to the activities of Irish monks, who preserved not only Christian, but also classical pre-Christian literature and who spread faith and learning elsewhere in Europe. Despite sometimes extravagant claims, he believes it is nevertheless true that the Irish “probably saved at least half of civilization, with what the Irish monks achieved.” In a sense, classical education originated with the system of monastic schools set up by the Irish monks. This inaugurated the era of St. Malachy, who opened many schools that taught subsequent orders – Dominicans, Cistercians, etc.

This vigorous period of cultural preservation, education, missions, and ultimately medieval cultural creation was followed by the anti-Catholic persecution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, first in the Tudor English period, and most intensely under Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan government in the middle of the seventeenth century. Irish Catholics ‘were not allowed to be educated” in any way. However, education, “classical wherever possible,” continued clandestinely in what were called “hedge schools.” These were conducted in private homes, barns, or other places that might be available to the Irish populace with sufficient secrecy. Students learned the Irish Gaelic language there (which at the time was still widely spoken rather than English), but also learning Latin and Greek, and classical works such as Homer. The Presentation Order of nuns, founded in Cork, Ireland in the late eighteenth century focused on education. They also brought education to many other parts of the world, such as Newfoundland, India, and Australia. Cantillon-Murphy said that Ireland became a center “of what we would now call ‘classical Catholic education.’”

The Challenge of Secular Education

However, specifically secular education also gained considerable ground in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A crucial thinker supporting secular education was the American John Dewey. One of his central tenets, according to Cantillon-Murphy, was that “educational systems are a societal interchange between authority and the child, and they are an opportunity … to enact change in society.” He said that such change was to be for “whatever direction” state authorities want. While the state determines the goals of education, this type of secular education was designated as “child-centered learning.” It might also be described as human-centered learning, in contrast to the God centered learning of Catholic and Christian education. It is crucially important to see, Cantillon-Murphy said, that while a Christian is part of the body of Christ, and important in that sense, he or she is not the center of the universe. This “distinction was lost on many people” in the still relatively Christian West as progressive educational philosophies were implemented.

At mid-twentieth century, a reformist education minister, Donogh O’Malley, emphasized the need for practical skills in life, particularly in an era of technological and economic change, rather than classical subjects such as Greek and Latin. This “led to the development of technical schools, vocational schools … that would ultimately add economic value” to the country. This indeed led to economic benefits. Ireland is “the European headquarters of Apple,” he said. The Irish government has been successful in attracting particularly American companies (about “950 U.S. companies”) by promoting the technical skills, orientation to work and the compliant behavior of Irish students. This has, however, been at the expense of Catholic education. After Irish independence, it was various religious orders that provided education, not the state. Today, in Ireland’s highly secular condition, the state has essentially inherited many schools that were historically Catholic.

Overshadowing Ireland’s current secularization, of course, is “decades of sexual abuse.” The worst aspect of this was the cover-up “that went on of the abuse for long periods of that time.” This scandal proved to the “the watershed moment for Catholic education in Ireland.” Currently, he said, there is less than one seminarian for each of Ireland’s 26 dioceses. The repeal of the pro-life amendment to Ireland’s constitution by a two-thirds majority of the public is another sign of the repudiation of the Catholic past.

Shortly after this repeal, education in Ireland became the focus of cultural struggle. About half of Ireland’s schools remained at least formally religious, while the remainder were state schools descended from the earlier technical schools. Truly private education, not supported by the state, is legal but rare in Ireland. The state and historically Catholic schools in Ireland are supported by the state, with teacher’s salaries, curricula, and examinations supplied by the state. Cantillon-Murphy said he was struck by the degree of secularization in Irish education when he returned to Ireland in 2010 and homeschooled his own children as a result. The secularization of education is accompanied not only by the absence of a distinctively religious curriculum, but also diminished academic performance with “one in five coming out” of Irish schools unable to read, write, or listen. Even secular sources concede that education in Ireland is in crisis.

A New Beginning

The beginning of the project of classical Catholic education that Cantillon-Murphy is involved in, Mater Dei Academy in Cork, occurred with conversations begun in 2017, with the opening of the academy in 2020 with 12 students. The school is founded on four pillars:

• Education is not an end in itself. The basic purpose is “to bring students to a meeting with Jesus Christ.” This must be the center of education. Morning prayers begin each day, giving thanks to God. The purpose of that day is not to do one’s individual will, but to do God’s will. The school, he said, has the support of the local bishop, Dominican friars, and the Sisters of St. Cecelia.

• Secondly, academic excellence is essential. Each student must be the best he or she can possibly be. The search for truth is fundamental. Education, however, is designed to be a preparation for life, not just work. Notably, students take courses in theology “to understand what God wants of you.” Students are also taught that they “have roots, that those roots are deep, and that they run in parallel to the church.” Music and history are taught to instill a knowledge of the past.

• Cantillon-Murphy believes that the academic program inaugurated by the Mater Dei Academy could revitalize Catholic education internationally. He noted that two additional schools opened within the last year at the elementary level following Mater Dei’s lead. Also now launched from the Mater Dei project is a homeschool program. This does include classical education, re-publishing books long out of print.

• Financial sustainability is also essential to maintaining a distinctly religious education independent of the state. Historically, people received Catholic education for free, because the religious orders providing education provided it for free. Under the system used by the Mater Dei Academy, parents “give what they can.” He said that tuition “funds about 40% of the school’s expenses.” An additional 40% is received from donors. The remaining 20% comes from the homeschool program and international students who pay fees.

Currently, Mater Dei Academy educates about 100 students.  Cantillon-Murphy said of this education that “there are green shoots, there’s always hope.” He said that the school welcomes educators who are classically educated to come for a year to teach in the school. This enables the school to learn from the experience of like-minded American liberal arts colleges.

In answer to a question, Cantillon-Murphy said that there is a clear purpose for education at Mater Dei Academy. “The school exists to support the parents who are the primary educators of the child.” This is the school’s “constitutional position.” Parents who send their children there do so because they want their children to be in a “completely, authentically Catholic environment.” He said the school aims for “faith-based education” rather than “value based education.” Currently, the school serves only Catholic students, although in light of evangelization, there may be other valid policies.

Another questioner asked how the school counteracts the pervasiveness of technology, and tries to instill a love of the classics. He said that research “is now pointing to the use of technology in the classroom as being an overall negative.” Cantillon-Murphy said that in-person teaching is important. “To teach, is to encounter a person.” While the school does use technology where appropriate, “we don’t have laptops in the classroom.” Also, “students have their cellphones left in the locker.” He said this is not a matter of conservatism, but “it’s better for the student.”

Christians are bound to educate their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).” Our duty to God overshadows all else. But for society at large, religious education, stressing as it does commitment to the ultimate, permanent things, will be conducive to excellence. Secular governments are not competent to address ultimate questions, and should leave ultimate commitments to individuals, who are trained by their parents, their natural educators. The revitalization of Catholic, and more generally religious education, should help ensure academic excellence and the formation of character, which is vital to any virtuous and free society.