Integration or Segregation? The education of the Irish in Britain in Roman Catholic voluntary‐aided schools

The origins of Roman Catholic voluntary‐aided schools are examined in order to explore how the British state has dealt with its largest labour migrant group: the Irish. The argument developed is that ethnic minority issues, in particular those of integration and segregation, were at the heart of the institutionalisation of religious schools as part of the state education system in Britain. The divisions of 19th century British society embodied in religion, class, and national identity were expressed as anti‐Catholicism and anti‐Irishness. In Liverpool between 1835‐41 an educational experiment took place to introduce the ‘Irish System’ to the corporation schools in the city. The defeat of this experiment by an Tory/Anglican alliance which powerfully linked hostility to Catholicism with the ‘Irish Question’ ended prospects for a national, interdenominational system of education. The resulting compromise ensured that the children of Irish Catholics were segregated and differentiated from the rest of the working class.