Abstract
Conor Curran's welcome new book is the first detailed study of the history of physical education in Irish primary and second-level schools between 1900 and 2000. It sets out the place of physical education in Irish schools prior to partition and, then, assesses its place north and south of the border across the remainder of the twentieth century. In many respects, this is a history of failed initiatives and, indeed, a history of failure even to take initiatives. The reality was that it was only late in the 1960s that concerted efforts were undertaken to provide physical education in the Republic of Ireland's schools in a coherent manner. This was something that gathered momentum through the foundation of the National College of Physical Education in 1973, but even then the subject received less time and fewer resources than across much of the rest of Europe. Across the border in Northern Ireland, physical education enjoyed a higher status, but even then it lagged behind the rest of Europe.
There is much to admire about Conor Curran's book. It is rigorously researched and the range of sources it draws on sets it apart from any other work in this field. It stands as a valuable addition to the history of education in Ireland, a useful means of examining the impact of public policies on either side of the border, and a record of the limitations of policy-makers to deliver (or even to conceive of) an adequate policy of physical education fitted to modern society. It is no simple matter to record the history of such a subject across one hundred years, not least because of the political upheavals of twentieth-century Ireland and the legacy of the political settlement of 1922. To these ends, this is a valuable book.
It is not without its problems, however. In part, this relates to the manner in which organised sport patchily filled the vacuum left by the absence of a purposeful educational offering in physical education. In his history, Conor Curran sometimes sets sport and physical education out in opposition to each other (p. 2) and sometimes moves between the two in the same sentence as if they are the same thing (p. 3). This lack of clarity about what precisely is being talked about does not hugely undermine the book, but neither does it help with its clarity. Further, the use of thirty-five oral history interviews undertaken with teachers clearly helps with colour for the post-1950s chapters. It is true, also, that these interviews expand insight into the experiences of teachers and allow for a more comprehensive insight into how policies on physical education were perceived by teachers. But by their very nature, these interviews privilege the experience of teachers against that of other relevant parties in this history. This is particularly obvious through the manner in which they are used in the conclusion of the book.
Finally, what is most apparent in this history, is not just the neglect of physical education in Irish schools, but rather the manner in which class is writ large across the Irish educational system. It is a simple matter of fact that those who attended fee-paying schools – in terms of the availability of facilities alone – ordinarily enjoyed a significantly different experience to those who did not. This is a privilege that has extended across the decades, the impact of which is readily apparent to anybody with any meaningful engagement with Irish primary and secondary education.