Sending gossoons to be made oul mollies of: Rule 127(b) and the feminisation of teaching in Ireland

Abstract

This article examines a decision known as Rule 127(b), taken in 1905 by the National Commissioners for Education in Ireland. The rule raised concerns about the displacement of male teachers and their replacement with poorly paid and sometimes untrained females. It appeared to condone the sexual division of labour with women teaching in infant schools and is regarded as having hastened the feminisation of the teaching profession in Ireland. Through the study of contemporaneous sources, this article considers whether Rule 127(b) contributed to the supplanting of male teachers by female teachers and focuses specifically on the reaction of the members of the teaching profession to the rule.