Mostrim (Longford) County Longford
A beautifully, tastefully curated display describing the life of the Edgeworth family and their contribution to the education system in Ireland. The old school house gives a glimpse into an old school room alongside informative displays and information regarding the Edgeworth family.
The self guided tour was pretty easy to follow and there was plenty of information and interactive displays to provide further information.
Definitely worth a visit for those interested in Irish and literary history.
Maria Edgeworth was an enlightened feminist with radical ideas on political, social, scientific, economic educational and cultural matters. As a young woman, she was the most celebrated language novelist of her era. Her books shocked by presenting Ireland and the Irish realistically, as different but equal to the English. She inspired Walter Scott, Jane Austen, and Turgenev. Maria and her father Richard Lovell Edgeworth attempted to set up a universal education system for Ireland, as early as 1799. It was to educate rich and poor, boys and girls, Catholics and Protestants, together.
The Old Schoolhouse in Edgeworthstown has been refurbished into a new centre. Visitors can use multilingual audio guides to listen to a representative selection of Maria’s famous friends in the Picture Gallery. This is a recreation of the library in Edgeworthstown House where she wrote for seventy years. An interactive magic blackboard in the refurbished Victorian schoolroom presents the evolution of Ireland’s National School system.
