ABSTRACT
Ireland was no longer part of the United Kingdom after 1921. This chapter explores how nationalist and religious aspirations intertwined within discourses of illiteracy in the early years of Irish independence. The new state was ruled by Catholic nationalists who sought to differentiate the Irish nation-state from Britain and underline its cultural independence. The chapter explores documentary data that discussed reading and writing practices in Ireland, such as Catholic reading lists and published statements supporting Irish-language revival. Irish-language activists sought to revive Irish literacy skills, while Catholic Church clergy attempted to replace English-language publications with reading material conforming to Catholic morality and theology. The state’s language-revival policy reduced English-language literacy requirements in the primary schools to focus on instilling Irish-language literacy practices instead. The Catholic Church secured state legislation in relation to print censorship. The chapter also examines how a history textbook prepared for the Irish education system celebrated the literacy skills and practices of the ancient Gaelic people. Similar details and illustrations of ancient literacy practices were transmitted through the schools, thus gaining the status of “fact”, and forming undisputed building blocks for the narrative of full literacy.
