The Irish Hedge School and its books, 1695–1831

Antonia McManus

'This is a wonderful study reflecting a time of underground education of exceedingly high standards, exemplified by the extraordinary range of books in the appendices', Books Ireland.

‘Education is rarely out of the news these days in either Britain or Ireland and this fascinating book, now in its 4th printing, is the definitive book looking at the hedge schools that were common in the Irish countryside for over one hundred and thirty-six years as well as the texts that were used by those who attended these schools … this book will be of interest to historians and educationalists alike, plus those interested in Irish society from the seventeenth-century onwards … [an] excellent and fascinating book’, James Scannell, Event Diary.