The rise and fall of the Celtic ineligible : competitive examinations for the Irish and Indian civil servants in relation to the educational and occupational structure of Ireland 1853-1921

• Main Author: Flanagan, K.
• Published: University of Sussex 1977
• Subjects: 352.630941709034
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.455575

This is a study of the relationship between the educational and occupational structure of Irish society, between 1853 and 1921, and competitive examinations for the Irish and Indian civil services. While entrance by merit was seen as a constitutional threat in England, the Irish reaction was to see these civil service reforms as a means of redressing the imbalance of patronage arising from internal colonialism. Response to the examinations in Ireland followed a different sequence to the rest of the United Kingdom. This was due to the nature of Irish society, and the bureaucracy which ruled over it. It is argued that the mid-Victorian Irish response to, competition related mainly to Indian opportunities. Successes in these examinations were obtained by Irish Anglicans in numbers disproportionate to their share of the Irish population and that for the remainder of the United Kingdom. They were educated at Irish schools (not public schools) trained in Irish universities, and came mainly from professional backgrounds. Their achievements reflected their disproportionate share of university places, the vocational orientation of higher education in Ireland, expressed in the organisation of teaching, and the low Cost of student life. The similarity between the curricula of the Irish universities and that required for the Indian tests gave added advantages to Irish students. Acute overcrowding in the professions., and their high status in Ireland underlined the attractions of an Indian career. Low Irish achievements at the late Victorian period were the result of manipulation of age regulations, curriculum, and educational changes in England, that gave Oxford and Cambridge undue advantages in the Indian civil service examinations.