From Galway Women in the 19th Century

By Maureen Langan-Egan

P 9 - 10

“The destruction of the textile industries affected Galway, a noted ‘yarn county’, very badly.  Flax, in particular, was a very useful crop on small pieces of ground; no tithes were payable to the Established Church on income from its sales, and it was easier to spin than wool. ‘Bandle-linen’  (a poor-quality fabric) was widely made. Landlords had distributed spinning wheels (tuirni) and reels in Connacht, either free of charge or for a minimum charge.  Their motives were not altogether altruistic, for it was reported that ‘the women in many families spin more than the whole amount of the house and gardens’, which means that the income earned from spinning was greater than that earned from the produce of the gardens and the earnings of other family members; thus, landlords were assured of their rents. The linen industry declined after 1815, which marked the end of the Napeolonic [sic] Wars.  As regards woollen goods, Ireland had been able to supply its requirements in 1800, but by 1830 the industry was in ‘terminal decline’; tariffs were lifted in 1826, allowing cheaper imports.”

Ref Bandle Linen https://sizes.com/units/bandle.htm

P 95-96 “an examination of the Regulations and Curriculum of the Dominican Convent Superior School (A Superior school taught at least one foreign language) in Taylor’s Hill, Galway reveal both its ethos and curriculum.  The Regulations stated:

Each young lady to approach the Sacrament of Penance once a month.

Out of school no pupil is to associate with a companion unless she have the sanction of her parents and the religious.

Each child to be provided with work materials, books, according to the list; and no one is to lend or borrow from another.

Silence to be observed during school hours.

Shoes to be changed before entering the school room and each pupil to be particular in making her salutation. (Polite greetings were the order of the day)

The lessons marked to be well studied at home and music pupils to practice one hour daily.

In 1858, the curriculum was set out as follows:

Daily Duties: Religious Instruction, English Reading, Parsing, Dictation, Needlework, Tables.

Alternate Duties:

Monday,              Grammar, Arithmetic, History

Wednesday,        Chronology French Conversation

Friday:

Tuesday,              Sacred history, Geography, Spelling.

Thursday,            Mythology, French Dictation

Saturday:

Monday               English Letter

Tuesday               Object Lesson

Wednesday         Natural History

Thursday              Astronomy

Friday                   -

Saturday              Long Religious Instruction.

This plan had to be modified, as the pupils were ‘too backward for such a course’. Such a wide-ranging curriculum was rare.  There was an on-going debate about which subjects should be taught to girls, and there was much sex-stereotyping in the curriculum.

P 118

Members of all religious organisations worked actively to obtain relief from abroad, including £24,000 from Calcutta. [in the 1840s]