Ireland's cultural identity has transformed significantly in the past few decades as a result of large-scale inward migration. Consequently, the creation of culturally responsive school environments has become a major concern in policy discourses in recent years. Despite the prevalence of such discourses, research on the cultural responsiveness of…

The Irish religious landscape is changing. Census data reveal that the percentage of those who identify as Catholic is in steady decline, while the proportion of those with no religion continues to rise. Christian religious practice in Ireland is also decreasing, especially among young people. Catholic schools, once the dominant provider of second…

Thinking sexuality education and religion together often results in antagonisms that pit religious and secular values against each other. Political theology provides new insights into this tendency by showing how modern concepts of political legitimacy are based on secularised Christian theology. Neoliberal schooling, public sexual health and…

Globalisation, migration, socio-political shifts, and access to the internet are increasing the religious and belief diversity of Irish society. This flux presents challenges for young people who are endeavouring to establish a secure identity. The focus of this research was to understand how the identity development of post-primary students of…

In 2007, a new model of state-run primary schools was established in Ireland in response to growing pluralism in this country. These are publicly-managed, multidenominational schools with the Irish state, through the Education and Training Boards (ETB) as their patron. School ethos is inclusive, striving to ensure that beliefs of all children are…

This study set out to explore levels of religious affect (measured by the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity) and personal affect (measured by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire) among samples of Catholic students in the Republic of Ireland attending fifth- and sixth-year classes (N = 3015) and Catholic students in Northern Ireland…

This paper considers the challenges faced by contemporary Catholic Education systems with particular reference to the contrast between the prevailing neo-liberal agenda and gospel values. It explicates this contrast from the perspectives of current critiques of the influence of the new manageralism in education and relevant literature on Catholic…

This long-awaited synthesis approaches the past three centuries with an eye to highlighting the importance of significant schools, as well as important women educators in the emergence of secondary education for girls. At the same time, each contributor pays careful attention to the specific political, cultural, and socio-economic factors that…