The Irish government and physical education in primary schools, 1922–37

This article examines the treatment of physical drill as a curricular subject in primary schools in the Irish Free State in the period from 1922 to 1937. In particular, it assesses the reasons why its status as an obligatory subject was reduced in the mid 1920s. It will show that the availability of facilities, resources and teaching staff with suitable qualifications were all considerations, while some teachers were not physically capable of teaching the subject in the early years of the Irish Free State. In addition, a strong emphasis on the Irish language and the view that a reduced curriculum was more beneficial to learning meant that some subjects, including physical drill, were deemed optional. However, the decision to reduce the subject's status had not been supported by everyone and it was mainly the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation which was behind the move. Following its reduction from an obligatory subject to an optional one as a result of a decision taken at the Second National Programme Conference in 1926, a lack of a clear policy on the subject became evident. By the early 1930s, the subject was receiving more attention from the Irish government, which made some efforts made to integrate the Czechoslovakian Sokol system into Irish schools. In examining conflicting views on how to implement the Sokol system, and the work of Lieutenant Joseph Tichy, the man recruited to develop it within the Irish army, this article also identifies the reasons why this method of physical training was not a success in Irish schools.

Writers’ Letters to George Sylvester Viereck in a Private Collection

German-born American poet, novelist, journalist and editor George Sylvester Viereck (1884 –1962) during his almost 60-year literary career (his first poem was published in 1898) befriended, met and corresponded with hundreds of contemporaries, including world famous persons. His first biographer Elmer Gertz wrote in 1954, “One should go through Viereck’s correspondence with the great personalities of his time in order to learn the full extent of the admiration they expressed for him. Alas, that correspondence is scattered; but excerpts from it can be found in the catalogues of various autograph dealers and should be preserved”. Liberated from prison in 1947 Viereck was not able to restore his previous position in literary world, was in need of money and had to sell autographs from his personal archive. This publication includes letters of four writers addressed to Viereck and dealing with his literary and editorial work. All of them are preserved in the author’s private collection and are published in English for the first time. In Russian translation one letter is published for the first time, another one was previously published, two letters were quoted. Journalist, writer, and politician Brand Whitlock (1869 –1934) followed Viereck’s journalistic activities as well as his Decadent poetry. English author and poet Richard Le Gallienne (1866 –1947), being a living incarnation of the “naughty nineties” for Viereck, valued contributing to his magazine The International. Known as the Dean of American Biographers, famous writer Gamaliel Bradford (1863 –1932) refused to support Viereck’s protest against the prohibition of his novel My First 2000 Years in the Irish Free State. Poet, artist and filmmaker Ferdinand Earle (1878 –1951) remained faithful to his long friendship with Viereck even when the latter was emprisoned.