at the Limerick Athenaeum.
Secular Third level education in Limerick began with the School of Art & Ornamental Design which was founded in late 1852 and saved from extinction in 1855 by the intervention of members and Council of the Athenaeum. In 1896, the School was handed over to the Corporation and combined with a technical school under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction. The School of Art moved from the Athenaeum to new premises in O' Connell Avenue in 1912. In his monumental survey of modern Irish history, Professor F.S.L. Lyons begins his book: "Ireland Since the Famine" with an analysis of the crucial role of religion in Irish life saying that "religious rivalries. had been part of the very fabric of Irish history since the Reformation". Nowhere was this more evident than in 19th century Limerick. Every denomination of Christianity had a Church in the city. The effects were stifling. For example, the debates in Limerick in 1839 and early 1840s over the location of the proposed Provincial University Colleges are polluted with sectarian rancour. As a result, Limerick lost out to Cork and Galway. The same sectarian bitterness forced the Limerick Philosophical Society into bankruptcy in 1846. In the meantime, the calamity of the great Famine descended on Ireland. The streets of Limerick teemed with starving paupers awaiting embarkation to North America. In 1847 alone, over 12,500 emigrants sailed from the Limerick to Canada and the United States. Religion, in whatever form, offered no solutions. A few enlightened people decided to take action. At a meeting held at the Leamy School in 1852, the President of the Literary & Scientific Society, William Lane Joynt, a solicitor, addressed an audience of 400 of the city's leading minds. In his speech, he asked why a city with a population of 60,000 did not have a College. Everyone in the audience knew the reason. Years later, he was to put it bluntly .." To secure one spot in Limerick, far removed above the noise of political dissentions or religious strife"...where free debate could take place openly and without fear of recrimination. The proposal for a non sectarian Athenaeum met with an immediate response. In the following months, donations poured in from all over the city and country. The Athenaeum lecture hall was opened in 1855 by John F. Maguire MP. His speech gives a harrowing account of the Famine. He offers a solution to prevent such a tragedy from ever re-occurring again. His proposal can be summed up in one word. Education. In his speech at the Limerick Athenaeum in 1872; Isaac Butt said that "the object is to promote the intellectual culture of all classes of the community" by giving everyone access to Lectures for the People & Scientific Demonstrations by the eminent speakers of the day. Today we would call this an Open University.
" An assembly that gathers round a lecturer in an Athenaeum is very different from the class that gathers round the chair of a University professor"- Isaac Butt, 1872.
Free Public Library
In May 1890 The Limerick Chronicle reprinted a letter from the House of Commons by F.A.O'Keeffe, MP (Limerick) who .suggested that the old guard of the Athenaeum should surrender the lease of the building to the Corporation and that the new City Library should be located there. The 1890s saw a power struggle for control of the Athenaeum. Previously the Corporation had tried to take over the building for use as a City Hall. In the next assault, ironically, the library was used as a weapon by the Corporation to wrest control of the Institution from the citizens. The hidden agenda was clearly to stifle public debate at the Athenaeum. The Government deeply resented the tone of the political debates there which effectively preached revolution. In 1899 the new Agricultural & Technical Instruction Act was passed. The Council and members of the Athenaeum were forced to hand over control of the Athenaeum to a new Technical Education Committee who controlled the purse strings. They vetted the agenda of every guest speaker. In 1900, Maud Gonne was reluctantly given permission to speak there following a public outcry over an initial refusal. Mayor John Daly and Michael Joyce M.P. pointed out the absurdity of their decision to allow the supporters of Queen Victoria to hold meetings at the Athenaeum whilst refusing Maud Gonne.
Sir Horace Plunkett MP (1854-1932) agriculturist and politician. The founder of the Irish Agricultural Organisation. In 1890, he established the first Co-Operative outlet at Drumcollegher, Co. Limerick. In Parliament, he initiated the Recess Committee in 1892 which led to a separate Department of Agriculture and Technical Education being established for Ireland in 1896.
The Archives reveal these new developments. For many people, the names of prize-winners at the Arts School and later the Technical Education schools will connect their grandparents to that period of history. The success of the Technical Education created a need for new and larger premises. The opening of the Technical Institute in O' Connell Avenue in 1912 spelled the end of one phase of the life of the Athenaeum. In 1913, the premises were leased out as a cinema. Old memories died slowly. The 1930s and 1940s reveal that the Limerick Drama Group and Muintir na Tire, amongst others, called for the use of the building as a municipal theatre. They wanted a secular venue, free from interference. They were clearly unhappy about using the theatre at the Technical Institute. In a telling comment, a spokesman for the College Players in 1942 said "that the Hall at the Technical Institute is a monument" and feels that his group cannot give "their best" there as they might "rub against the paint". The spokesman was not referring to the architecture of the theatre; he was alluding to censorship. The irony is that the Athenaeum which was established to counter the religious sectarianism and political bigotry of one power group was emasculated by the sectarianism and bigotry of another power group.
The Limerick Athenaeum was an outstanding success in the popularisation of education. The Athenaeum Archives gives a detailed list of all the lectures given and in many cases the actual text of these lectures has survived. From the very beginning, the intention of the founders was to establish a Library and Museum at the Athenaeum. In 1863, shortly before his death, William Smith O'Brien donated his library to the Institution. In 1870, a bequest of the Bennis Books was consigned to the Athenaeum and in Dec 17 of that year, the first the Free Public Library in Limerick opened at the Athenaeum.
painting by J. B. Yeats (the elder)
Sir Horace Plunkett spoke on the Co-Operative Agricultural Movement in 1894. ( where by coincidence a Farmers Club of wealthy North Munster landowners was established in 1856 ) and again at the Technical Education Congress in 1903. The Arts & Craft movement flourished under the new Technical Instruction Act and laid the foundations for a new sense of purpose to develop our national resources. The Irish Industries sponsored Exhibitions at the Athenaeum each year to promote Irish manufactured goods.
Image #88 of Athenaeum Student Award 1859
Image #89 of Limerick Technical Education Committee Prospectus 1900
