The history of irish education - Essay Example

Here, a mention again needs to be made of the perseverance of various literary giants of the bygone era. Probably, one of the most prominent of them, who left a lasting impact on Irish Education, is William Carleton. At this juncture, it would be worthwhile to take a glance of Carleton’s life and the key role essayed by him in enhancing the country’s educational standards. William Carleton was born in the year 1794, in Prillisk, which was quite near to Aughentain. He had thirteen siblings who were all elder to him.

While Carleton was still in boyhood, his family relocated to a place that was in the proximity of Cloger Valley. Whatever little education that Carleton got was through the teachers of the hedge school, who always used to travel. As a matter of fact, this was the only education that a majority of the common people had access to, during that era. Additionally, Carleton learned about many folk tales from his father, with the same reflecting in his future writings in the realms of journalism and literature.

(SOURCE 1) Carleton described himself as being a careless person in his younger days. At that time, though he never wasted opportunities of reading books, yet, he also used to indulge in fun activities such as competitions of jumping and dance. (SOURCE 1) As Carleton disliked the idea of leading his life as a petty farmer, he commenced the pursuit of the studies that constituted the basic pre-requisite for gaining an entry into Maynooth College. This was propelled by his objective of being recognized as a qualified priest.

But eventually, he relinquished all those efforts and started to provide services as a private teacher to a County Louth Farmer’s household. In the year 1818, entirely vexed with teaching, Carleton shifted to Dublin, with his only possessions being a paltry sum of two shillings and nine pence, and his autobiographical records. There, he