Any non-denominational gaelscoileanna/meánscoileanna?

Dostoevsky

Hi,

I'm absolutely certainly going to send my children to a gaelscoil and then a meánscoil. However, I do not want them to have anything to do with the Catholic Church ( or any other church). I don't want them learning religion, although ethics will be fine, etc. No prayers, or any of that nonsense.

I was always under the impression that the gaelscoileanna were non-denominational with no connection to the local bishop or priest. However, somebody has recently informed me that, as a result of a case in Dunboyne several years ago, now there are many Catholic gaelscoileanna.

I'm finding it hard to find the precise situation on the relationship between gaelscoileanna and religious institutions. Does anybody know the story on this?

dambarude

Well Foras na Pátrúnachta is non-denominational as far as I know. Check out this site.

Toto Wolfcastle

The secondary school religion curriculum teaches students about different religions rather than teaching prayers. It's an exam subject, more commonly in junior cycle, so the emphasis is on the theory of different religions rather than on prayers.

I went to an Irish-speaking secondary school and we had mass once or twice a day. There was a definite connection to the Catholic church. Religion was not an exam subject when I was in school and I had a very Catholic teacher so we had a lot of prayers but no one was forced to go to mass.

I know that doesn't really answer your question but I hope some of the information is of some help to you. Perhaps it would be a good idea to contact the schools you are interested in and find out their policy on religion.

implausible

Tbh, I don't know what your chances are of finding a school that doesn't offer Religion at all. Many schools offer it as an exam subject and in other schools it's only offered once a week and it covers all religions.

The most realistic option would be to ask the school if it's possible to have your children opt out of Religion classes in whatever school they go to.

byhookorbycrook

Every primary school in Ireland has some form of religious/ethical curriculum that they have to cover. There are many multi-denom Gaelscoileanna in the country. Gaelscoileanna were set up by parents and not by parishes. What part of the county are you in?

MathsManiac

dambarude wrote: »

Well Foras na Pátrúnachta is non-denominational as far as I know. Check out this site.

They don't actually have any "non-denominational" schools. They have four categories: Catholic, Protestant, Inter-denominational and Multi-denominational.

The multidenominational ones are probably closest to what the OP wants. In the listing of schools on the site, it indicates which ethos of the four is involved.

There's no getting away from the fact that the Department of Education regulations require all primary schools to teach religion for a minimum amount of time each week, (not sure how much, but I think it might be 2 hrs 30 mins.) In the multi-denominational Gaelscoileanna, they don't teach any particular denominational stuff during this time. As it says for this category on their website: "No specific or denominational religion shall be taught during the official time laid down for the teaching of religion by the Department of Education and Science."

I'd suggest checking out the site, find the nearest multi-denominational Gaelscoil to you, and then talk to them before enrolling your children so that you know what the story is before they start.