Charlotte Williams and Dr. Julie Hartley-Moore, Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University

In Europe, notions about national identity are being called into question as historical state-sponsored conceptions encounter new forces present in current affairs—including, relative economic prosperity, mass immigration, conflicting ideas about religion, and desired assimilation into a collective European identity. Ireland provides a case study largely reflective of these broader European issues, while simultaneously being distinct as the only free European state which was formerly under colonial control by another European power. Thus, in its post-colonial context, Ireland currently struggles to accommodate these competing forces—both old and new—to form a cogent national identity which the state can disseminate to its constituents. Some of these forces are grounded firmly in Irish history: lingering effects from colonialism still present in the nation’s infrastructure and psyche; Celtic Revivalism, which continues to be vital to Ireland’s efforts to define itself; and the continued influence of the Catholic Church. Other significant factors are relatively new, including membership in the EU, the nation’s recent wealth, massive immigration to the island, and increasing secularization.

This struggle is reflected in the primary school system in Galway City—the site of the research on which this article is based. Within the schools, local and national interests meet, as the Ministry of Education and local administrators and teachers strive to present socializing messages which satisfy competing factions within the national discourse. By studying the curriculum and textbooks provided by the state, as well as by observing the dynamics and attitudes in the schools and community, I provide analysis of how the state strives to handle current identity ambiguity in Ireland.

National identity is a prominent topic of academic research and is a highly influential force in creating the psyche of citizens. States/governments want to foster a clear sense of identity in its citizens that is amiable to notions of ideal civic behavior. They typically want the boundary to be clear between “us” as the nation, and “other” as all groups not a part of the nation. However, such a boundary becomes blurry when citizens do not feel a clear sense of national identity.

Schools, then, are significant institutions for instilling identity into citizens. Anthony Smith (1991) asserts that civic education “is potentially the most significant feature of territorial nationalism and the identity it seeks to create. Observers often remark on the seriousness with which the regimes of new states embark on campaigns for literacy and primary education of the whole population” (118). He continues that “equally important is the content of that education in the territorial nations. [Often] education is as much for the benefit of the national community as for the individual (NI Smith 118).

In order to study the current context of national identity in Ireland, notably the state’s reactions to the multi-dimensional discourse, I looked at the primary school system. In most nations with strong states in place, schools serve as socializing agents for children, ideally forming them into the variety of citizens considered optimal by the state (Smith 1991, Gellner 1997). Likewise, the Primary School Curriculum (1999) put forth by the Ministry of Education for Ireland states that one of the major aims of primary education is “to enable the child to develop as a social being through living and cooperating with others and so contribute to the good of society” (PSC 7). The messages put forth in the schools are thus significant as indicators of the way the state wishes its citizens to form their identities.

Due to constraints in time and access, I focused my efforts on analyzing the curriculum of the schools, talking with teachers, and observing classrooms. I spoke with students as well, but did not investigate this avenue to the same degree as the aforementioned ones. I focused on the fourth through sixth classes of each school (*note, the Irish use the word class instead of grade). I felt this age group would best reveal the messages the state most wants to socialize in young children as they are young enough to be moldable, and old enough to expose to issues of historical and political significance that younger classes might not learn about. Also, as the students are old enough to understand some matters of social significance, but generally considered not mentally developed enough to understand a high degree of complexity in the issues, the simplified versions of the messages put forth are notable in revealing the main points the state wants communicated among the sea of complexity.

It was sometimes difficult to work my study into the schools’ busy end-of-the-year schedules, so during periods when I was not able to get into a school, I observed and participated in other community events, as well as read about current issues in the local and national newspapers. Further, I lived in an apartment with four roommates—an Irish couple, a female Lithuanian hotel worker, and a female Chinese student at the local university, all in their twenties—who provided further data which was especially helpful given their diversity. These subsidiary events thus comprise a sizable portion of my study.

I found that as schools in Ireland largely take their cue from the state, the inability of the latter to achieve a definitive identity likewise results in a lack of overarching coherence in school messages. Indeed, messages within Galway’s primary schools—coming from curriculum guides, textbooks and other literature, decoration, and actual teaching interactions—manifest this identity struggle in providing clear messages affirming contrasting and sometimes clashing ideas, without providing an overarching rationale for reconciling such ideas. However, while outside the schools the attempted reconciliation is controversial and at least some in the population seem bothered by the lack of coherence, within the schools the messages are largely put forth as if there is no incongruity. My research leads me to believe that the state fails to acknowledge this incongruity because it is not sure itself exactly which direction Ireland should progress in, nor which forces to cling to most to achieve desired progression.

Future research can more extensively delve into the identity question in light of the current worldwide economic crisis which is largely affecting Ireland currently, and which likewise affects each of the categories I investigate in my research. How the state handles the changing state of Ireland’s economy will shed light on how permanent or transient these forces may be in the national psyche.