This volume marks the 2022 centenary of the first National Programme for Education in the Free State. Central to the outlook of the new educational programme was the position of the Irish language as a marker of Irish national identity and culture. Education was to be the means to revitalise the language and cultural nationalism eroded through years of Anglicisation. This principal aim had far-reaching consequences for the shape of the education system, its educational programme, and for the survival of Irish into the twenty-first century.

This collection of essays explores the centrality of the Irish language and the desired «Irish outlook» in education, touching on key developments within Irish language education, educational policy and the role of Irish in society over the past hundred years.