Background to the National Education Board
The Commissioners for National Education (National Education Board) were established in 1831.
Granted a charter in 1845, the Commissioners were empowered to make grants to existing schools for the payment of teachers and the provision of equipment and also to provide for the building of new schools, to appoint and pay inspectors and to establish a model school for the training of teachers.
Model schools
Only one model school was first contemplated, a central model school in Dublin which was established in 1833. From 1845 onwards, local model schools began to be established; managed by the local inspectors, their teachers were directly appointed by the Board.
The Royal Commission on Education (1868–1870) found that the model schools were an unduly expensive method of training teachers and this use ceased from about 1883 onwards. However, the schools continued to function as ordinary schools.
Ending of the Board
The Board was brought to an end in 1922 when its functions were taken over by the Minister for Education, whose department was established by the Ministers and Secretaries Act of 1924.
How to research education records
To research a specific school and the records associated with it, you need to consult the index cards in our Reading Room.
Materials are categorised by school, according to the ED-series. Use the finding aids for the relevant series to determine which record(s) you want to view. While all records are stored onsite, some are accessible only on microfilm.
ED/1: Applications for grants, 1832–c.1890
These are applications made to the Commissioners for grants for the building of schools, payment of teachers and provision of equipment. They sometimes include correspondence. Applications are made on printed forms.
ED/2: Registers, 1832–1963
These are minute books of all proceedings taken in connection with each school. Each school is given a folio number, and at the head of each folio are particulars of the school. These include:
- Roll number
- Location
- Relation (if any) to religious house
- Date of establishment
- Date when taken into connection by the Board
- Particulars of lease
- Patrons
- Controlling committee (if any)
- Number and dimensions of schoolrooms
- Particulars relating to the financing of the school
In addition to minutes, the registers may also contain material relating to school finances, attendance and abstracts of reports by inspectors. Registers for the period 1832–c.1900 are accessible.
ED/3: Registers, District Model Schools, 1845–1881
Model national schools: registers of summaries of documents relating their administration
ED/4: Salary Books, 1834–1960’s
National school teachers’ salary books
ED/5: Salary Books, District Model Schools, 1862–1919
Model national schools: teachers’ salary books
ED/6: Salary Books, Model Schools, 1862–1919
Model national schools: teachers’ salary books
ED/7: Newspaper cuttings, 1854–1923
Bound volumes of contemporary newspaper cuttings relating to matters of educational interest. Most of the volumes are indexed.
ED/8: Miscellaneous records (1861–1912)
This series is not currently available to researchers.
ED/9: Files, 1877–1924
These are case files relating to individual schools, dealing with a wide range of subject matter, from routine maintenance to disputes between teachers and managers.
ED/11: Records relating to teacher training colleges and Irish colleges, 1906–1922
These records relate to the administration of teacher training colleges and the recognition, inspection and administration of Irish colleges.
Registered files of the Department of Education, from 1922
This series is a continuation of ED/9 above. The files are listed in date order.
National School registers and roll books
The National Archives has accessioned a small number of registers and roll books from individual schools. The registers are a particularly valuable source of information, giving details of the pupils’ home addresses, parents’ occupations and an account of pupils’ academic progress and attendance record.
Lists of roll books and registers arranged by county can be see in Additional resources below, or consulted in our Reading Room.
Registers
The registers provide details of the pupil’s name, date of birth, religious affiliation, residence, occupation of parent or guardian and also details of the last national school attended.
Daily report books
The daily report books provide details on attendance at the school, organised class by class and day by day. These note the discrepancies between the numbers listed on the rolls and the numbers in attendance. They also list grants made to the school.
Roll books
The roll books list the attendance of named pupils. They contain the date of birth of the pupil, the date when entering the relevant class, the number of the pupil within the school and within the relevant class.
While these are the most commonly donated record classes, other record classes also exist:
- District Inspectors’ observation books
- Organisers’ observation books
- Corporal punishment books
- Religious instruction certificates (for members of the Church of Ireland)
- Special roll books
Copying education records
ED/1- this collection has been fully digitised.
ED/2, ED/3, ED/4, ED/5 and the National School registers and roll books cannot be photocopied, due to the fragility and size of the volumes. Photographs of these records may be taken by readers in consultation with the Duty Archivist.
Teachers Employed by the Commissioners of National Education on 31 March 1905
Privy Council Office: List of Teachers Employed by the Commissioners of National Education on 31 March 1905
This list was compiled by the National Education Office in 1905 ‘showing the ages and length of service of National School Teachers in the service of the Commissioners of National Education on 31st March, 1905 and, where furnished, their places of education’.
Please note that no further lists of this kind have been created.
This list is arranged in alphabetical order by surname and can be viewed as a PDF.
