THREAD
Deciding how #history is going to be represented and studied is an important tool that all sorts of governments use in their attempts to steer public thinking in a particular direction.
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#IrishWomenInHistory #NollaigNamBan #irishhistory #Ireland

Before independence, Irish children in state schools studied history that focused solely on the British Empire & the "glorious" battles & other events that were important to it. Irish history was hardly mentioned, & Ireland was only discussed in the context of the #British Empire

The study of Irish history, & the reclaiming of an Irish narrative, would be an important element of both the political & cultural nationalist movement. After independence, the pendulum swung the other way.
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#IrishWomenInHistory #NollaigNamBan

Irish schoolchildren now studied a version of #history that focused on the "saints and scholars" narrative of Ireland, & that tended to represent all those who were seen as less than authentically Gaelic as villains. This put the Protestant minority in a tricky situation.
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While some of them had been nationalists, to varying degrees, many had been unionists, & now they had to find a way to adapt to the new situation. Feeling compelled to study history books in which people like them were generally represented as villains did not help. 5/7

In 1939, Dora Casserley, wrote A History of Ireland for Irish schools. The Dept. of Education approved it for use in all national schools in '41-2. It told the story of Ireland that did not exclude the Protestant minority from feeling part of Irish history in a positive way.
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Dora's book was approved for use in all schools but was only used in Protestant schools. An entire generation of Protestant children studied this book. Casserley's contribution to facilitating the adaptation of their community was immeasurable.
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#IrishWomenInHistory