Between 1824-1827, a royal commission inquired into the state of education in Ireland. Its terms of reference are outlined in the commissioners’ First Report (1825):

‘To inquire into the Nature and Extent of the Instruction afforded by the several Institutions in Ireland, established for the Purpose of Education, and maintained either in Whole or in Part from the Public Funds; to inquire also into the State of the Diocesan and District Schools in Ireland, and the Nature of the Instruction there given; to ascertain whether and what Regulations may be fit to be established with respect to the Parochial Schools in Ireland, and to report as to the Measures which can be adopted for extending generally to all Classes of Our People of Ireland the Benefits of Education.’

The royal commission wished to gather information about schools in Ireland to inform its work. This was achieved by sending returns for completion to the clergy of various denominations in 1824. The returns consisted of 15 questions asking for detailed information about each school, including its location, date of establishment and accommodation, the identity, religious denomination and education of the teacher, the number and religious denomination of pupils, average attendance, fees paid by pupils, identification of any education society, religious congregation or other organisation associated with the school, curriculum, books used, and observations on proselytism. The full text of the questions asked in the returns is available here.

In Kildare & Leighlin, the returns were completed by parish clergy and sent to the commission. It is understood that the original returns are no longer extant. Parish clergy created duplicate returns at the request of Dr James Doyle, Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, and sent them to him. Thirty-four duplicate returns survive for Kildare & Leighlin parishes. A list of the parishes for which returns survive is available here.

Information from the returns was published in the commissioners’ Second Report (1826) and by Rev. Martin Brenan in Schools of Kildare and Leighlin A.D. 1775-1835 (Dublin: M.H. Gill and Son, 1935). While these webpages contain images and transcriptions of duplicate returns created by the Catholic clergy of Kildare & Leighlin, the commissioners’ Second Report and Rev. Brenan’s book additionally include details of further schools, perhaps provided by clergy of other denominations or no longer extant in Kildare & Leighlin records.

Brenan, M. (1935) Schools of Kildare and Leighlin A.D. 1775-1835 (Dublin: M.H. Gill and Son).

First Report of the Commissioners on Education in Ireland (1825), available: https://archive.org/details/op1244151-1001/page/n1/mode/2up [accessed 27 July 2022].

Second Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry (1826).