*In Ireland, Model Farms were a phenomenon of the early to mid nineteenth century. The Commissioners of the Irish National System of Education had a policy of supporting agricultural institutions from 1837 onwards. Two kinds of institutions received aid; Agricultural schools which were rented and maintained by the commissioners and in which the farm building were erected out of public funds and secondly ordinary National schools to which farms were connected but in which the land was not held by the Commissioners. The first type, under the exclusive manager of the Board of Commissioners was known as Model Farms. The 1849 report on national education indicates that there were only thirteen such schools in the whole of Ireland, five in Northern Ireland and only one in Co. Down- at Holywood. At this time grants amounted to £300 for farm buildings and teacher's residence, provided there was a local expenditure of at least £150. A salary of £30 a year was paid to the teacher. Only six acres of land were required and a portion of the grant could go towards purchasing stock and implements. The Commissioners produced an Agricultural Class Book and a Farm Account Book which were distributed to all District Model Schools. Model Farms in general were found to be costly to run and continually under attack from those ill-disposed towards them. The Powis Commission of 1870 recommended they they should be not retained and by 1880 only two remained. Ironically, the ordinary agricultural schools with only two or three acres attached, fared better. In 1849 there were thirty-four in operation (12 in Ulster) and by 1870 there were 100, rising to a peak of 170 in 1875. Thereafter a decline set in and when the Viceregal Commission of Manual and Practical Instruction (1899) reported unfavourable on the teaching of agriculture as a subject in National schools, the commissioners had nothing more to do with school farms which then reverted to private use. At the same time a new Department of Agriculture was set up and training in agriculture was henceforth addressed to to adults.* Robin Wylie Regards, Donnacha ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brendan Jones" <brendanj@gofree.indigo.ie> To: <CountyCork-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 12:14 PM Subject: Re: [Cork] Model Farm > Hi Linda, > > It was an institute set up by the powers that be > to educate people in the proper way to run a farm. > It was therefore a model to which others could > aspire, hence a Model Farm. > > Regards, > > Brendan Jones. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Linda Egan Flynn <leflynn@pacbell.net> > To: <CountyCork-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, September 02, 2002 1:15 AM > Subject: [Cork] Model Farm > > > > Does anyone know how Model Farm got its name? > > > > Linda Egan Flynn