Education of Tubercular Children in Northern Ireland, 1921 to 1955

This paper looks at the education of tuberculous children in Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1955. It shows that there were regional differences and deficiencies in the extent of provision in Northern Ireland. Although rates of tuberculosis were higher for Irish children than their English counterparts, the Irish School Medical Service was not developed until at least 16 years later than in England and Wales. Other regional differences are revealed in the paucity of open-air education. This was considered the ideal but places were available for comparatively few children. Many continued to attend the same school as before their diagnosis whilst others were nursed at home and did not receive any schooling. We can obtain a much deeper picture of the impact of these deficiencies on tuberculous children and their families by supplementing the documentary sources with evidenceobtained from oral interviews.