National school (Ireland)

In national schools, most major policies, such as the curriculum and teacher salaries and conditions, are managed by the state through the Department of Education.

National schools, established by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland government, post the Stanley Letter of 1831, and were intended to be multi-denominational.

Lastly, schools who failed to abide by these rules or who refused admissions of different faiths to the patron were denied state funding.

These rules largely remain in place today, but are not consistently recognised by the state, the patron bodies, or the general public.

[10] Both the Roman Catholic Church, which was emerging from a period of suppression in Ireland, and the Protestant Presbyterians, who had also suffered under the penal laws, had sought state support for schools of their own tradition.

[10] For example, James Doyle (Roman Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin) was an early proponent, seeking to improve on the informal hedge school system.

From a political point of view, Doyle believed that separate schools would endanger the public peace, which was not yet permanent.

The result was that by the end of the nineteenth century the system had become increasingly denominational, with individuals choosing to attend schools primarily catering to children of their own religion.