Hedge Schools: Schools in the 17th Century and 18th Century
Teachers can draw children's attention to the activity found within the hedge school section of the Raheny unit for 5th and 6th outlined below.
Hedge Schools : The Penal Laws are briefly introduced to indicate their effect on the schooling of Catholics. These laws prohibited Catholics from becoming teachers or from sending their children to school abroad.
Hedge schools. Visual evidence. A drawing of a hedge school is shown. Written evidence is given and a contemporary description of such schools.
Written evidence: A sample is shown form a children's reading book from 1799.
Activity: Children draw a hedge school using an electronic pen from a description written in 1816.
Teachers can draw children's attention to the activity found within the hedge school section of the Raheny unit for 5th and 6th outlined below.
1714: when Christopher Meldon ran a hedge school in Baldoyle near Raheny.
The pupils click on 1714 .The 1714 page is linked to:
1. A detective game. The objectives of this activity are to enable pupils to:
- examine a pictorial source of a hedge master and his pupils in the 18th century,
- read four sentences about hedge schools in the 18th century,
- link each one of the four sentences with an appropriate section of the pictorial source.
2. An information page that provides general information about the penal laws and hedge schools and explains why Christopher Meldon was imprisoned for teaching.
3. A multiple-choice quiz page, with questions relating hedge schools.