History of Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
- LAST REVIEWED: 15 February 2010
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 February 2010
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0050
- LAST REVIEWED: 15 February 2010
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 February 2010
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0050
Introduction
While the origins of social work in the Republic of Ireland are generally traced back to the mid-19th century, it is often reported that the first “professional social worker” was employed in a paid professional capacity in 1906 by the Jacobs Factory as a welfare worker (occupational social worker). The first medical social worker (almoner) was employed in 1919 in Adelaide Hospital, and from the 1920s onward, qualified social workers were employed by both statutory and voluntary authorities. The first formal social work course was established in 1912 by Alexandra College (civic and social work) and a diploma in social studies was established at Trinity College in 1934, followed by University College Dublin in 1936. In researching the history of social work in Ireland, the particular history of the jurisdiction is important. Up to 1920, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were governed by Britain. Even before partition, while being influenced by British developments, the history of social work in Ireland was also influenced by the unique social and political context of Ireland, most notably the complex symbiotic relationship between politics and religion. While Irish statutory and voluntary welfare services paved their own unique paths after the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, up until the 1970s there remained a strong connection, especially in relation to training, between social workers in the Republic of Ireland and those in the United Kingdom. Beginning in 1973, social work courses were approved by the United Kingdom Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW), and they remained under this governance until the establishment of an Irish qualification board, the National Social Work Qualifications Board (NSWQB), in 1997. This entry provides two types of references: those written in the present about the history of social work, and a discreet selection of articles written at key moments in the past that reflect aspects of this history.
Introductory Works
For a general understanding of the development of social work from its origins in philanthropy, Skehill 1999 provides the most comprehensive account of the main phases of development in social work. Kearney 1987 and Darling 1971 are most commonly cited as introductions to the history of social work training, including reference to developments within Northern Ireland. O’Connor and Parkes 1984, a history of Alexandra College, gives insight into the development of the first certificate in “civic and social work” in 1912. The history of philanthropy, generally recognized as the forerunner to professional social work, provides important introductory reading on the origins of social work within Ireland. As these histories refer mostly to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they pertain to the history of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The work of Maria Luddy (Luddy 1995a, Luddy 1995b, Cullen and Luddy 1995, Luddy and Murphy 1989) is particularly important as an introduction to philanthropy. Preston 2004 gives another dimension to this history.
Cullen, Mary, and Maria Luddy, eds. 1995. Women, power, and consciousness in 19th-century Ireland. Dublin: Attic.
Provides a biographical analysis of eight key women who influenced Irish social policy and welfare in the 19th century, giving insight into the nature of philanthropy and social action during this time.
Darling, V. 1971. Social work in the Republic of Ireland. Social Studies: The Irish Journal of Sociology 1.1: 24–37.
This is one of the few accounts of social work training available and is commonly cited in histories of social work in Ireland. It maps the developments of education in each of the universities in Ireland.
Kearney, Noreen. 1987. The historical background. In Social work and social work training in Ireland: Yesterday and tomorrow. By Noreen Kearney. Occasional Papers Series no. 1. Dublin: Department of Social Studies, Trinity College.
A well-cited account of social work training in Ireland that provides the most comprehensive chronology of the core developments. It is a useful accompaniment to Darling 1971.
Luddy, Maria. 1995a. Women and philanthropy in nineteenth-century Ireland. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Provides a comprehensive overview of the role of women in philanthropy in 19th-century Ireland, and in so doing gives an insight into the origins of what became professional social work.
Luddy, Maria, ed. 1995b. Women in Ireland, 1800–1918: A documentary history. Cork, Ireland: Cork Univ. Press.
An engaging read that is particularly useful for understanding some of the earlier histories of women and philanthropy. More than one hundred sources and documents are used to map a range of women’s activities.
Luddy, Maria, and Cliona Murphy, eds. 1989. Women surviving: Studies in Irish women’s history in the 19th and 20th centuries. Swords, Dublin, Ireland: Poolbeg.
An in-depth study of the role of women in various aspects of social life in Ireland, including philanthropy during the 19th and 20th centuries. It should be used as a companion to Luddy 1995a and Luddy 1995b as together they offer a comprehensive and detailed overview of philanthropy.
O’Connor, Anne V., and Susan M. Parkes. 1984. Gladly learn and gladly teach: Alexandra College and School 1899–1966. Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland: Blackwater.
Provides insight into social work training in Alexandra College, where the first civic and social work course was established in 1912. This was one of the first formal training courses available at the time.
Preston, Margaret H. 2004. Charitable words: Women, philanthropy, and the language of charity in nineteenth-century Dublin. Westport, CT: Praeger.
This is one of the more recent histories of women and philanthropy and the practice of charity in the 19th century. Focuses on important themes, such as race, class, and religion, and addresses the question of philanthropy as a career, which has a strong link with understanding the development of professional social work.
Skehill, Caroline. 1999. The nature of social work in Ireland: A historical perspective. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen.
This is the most comprehensive history of social work in Ireland available to date and is based on archival research into a range of social work departments and organizations in Ireland. The book maps four major phases of transition in social work and is a useful introduction to the subject.
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Article
- Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work
- Abortion
- Adolescent Depression
- Adolescent Pregnancy
- Adolescents
- Adoption
- Adoption Home Study Assessments
- Adult Protective Services in the United States
- African Americans
- African-Centered Social Work
- Aging
- Aging out of foster care
- Aging, Physical Health and
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Problems
- Alcohol and Drug Problems, Prevention of Adolescent and Yo...
- Alcohol Problems: Practice Interventions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
- Anti-Oppressive Practice
- Asian Americans
- Asian-American Youth
- Assessment
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Baccalaureate Social Workers
- Behavioral Health
- Behavioral Social Work Practice
- Bereavement Practice
- Bisexuality
- Brief Therapies in Social Work: Task-Centered Model and So...
- Bullying and Social Work Intervention
- Canadian Social Welfare, History of
- Case Management in Mental Health in the United States
- Central American Migration to the United States
- Child Maltreatment Prevention
- Child Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment
- Child Poverty
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Child Welfare
- Child Welfare and Child Protection in Europe, History of
- Child Welfare and Parents with Intellectual and/or Develop...
- Child Welfare Effectiveness
- Child Welfare, Immigration and
- Child Welfare Practice with LGBTQ Youth and Families
- Children
- Children of Incarcerated Parents
- Christianity and Social Work
- Chronic Illness
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Adult Lesbians
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Males
- Cognitive Behavior Therapies with Diverse and Stressed Pop...
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Community
- Community Development
- Community Policing
- Community-Based Participatory Research
- Community-Needs Assessment
- Comparative Social Work
- Computational Social Welfare: Applying Data Science in Soc...
- Conflict Resolution
- Council on Social Work Education
- Counseling Female Offenders
- Criminal Justice
- Crisis Interventions
- Cultural Competence and Ethnic Sensitive Practice
- Culture, Ethnicity, Substance Use, and Substance Use Disor...
- Dementia Care
- Dementia Care, Ethical Aspects of
- Depression and Cancer
- Development and Infancy (Birth to Age Three)
- Differential Response in Child Welfare
- Digital Storytelling for Social Work Interventions
- Direct Practice in Social Work
- Disabilities
- Disability and Disability Culture
- Disasters
- Divorce
- Domestic Violence Among Immigrants
- Early Pregnancy and Parenthood Among Child Welfare–Involve...
- Eating Disorders
- Ecological Framework
- Economic Evaluation
- Elder Mistreatment
- End-of-Life Decisions
- Epigenetics for Social Workers
- Ethical Issues in Social Work and Technology
- Ethics and Values in Social Work
- Ethnicity
- European Institutions and Social Work
- European Union, Justice and Home Affairs in the
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Finding Evidence
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Issues, Controversies...
- Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
- Families
- Families with Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Parents
- Family Caregiving
- Family Group Conferencing
- Family Policy
- Family Services
- Family Therapy
- Family Violence
- Fathering Among Families Served By Child Welfare
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
- Field Education
- Financial Literacy and Social Work
- Financing Health-Care Delivery in the United States
- Forensic Social Work
- Foster Care
- Foster care and siblings
- Gay Men
- Gender, Violence, and Trauma in Immigration Detention in t...
- Generalist Practice and Advanced Generalist Practice
- Grounded Theory
- Group Work
- Group Work across Populations, Challenges, and Settings
- Group Work, Research, Best Practices, and Evidence-based
- Harm Reduction
- Health Care Reform
- Health Disparities
- Health Social Work
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1900–1950
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1950-1980
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, pre-1900
- History of Social Work from 1980-2014
- History of Social Work in China
- History of Social Work in Northern Ireland
- History of Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
- History of Social Work in the United Kingdom
- HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS and Children
- HIV/AIDS Prevention with Adolescents
- Homelessness
- Homelessness: Ending Homelessness as a Grand Challenge
- Homelessness Outside the United States
- Housing
- Human Needs
- Human Trafficking, Victims of
- Immigrant Integration in the United States
- Immigrant Policy in the United States
- Immigrants and Refugees
- Immigrants and Refugees: Evidence-based Social Work Practi...
- Immigration and Health Disparities
- Immigration and Intimate Partner Violence
- Immigration and Poverty
- Immigration and Spirituality
- Immigration and Substance Use
- Immigration and Trauma
- Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice
- Impaired Professionals
- Implementation Science and Practice
- Indigenous Peoples
- Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employmen...
- In-home Child Welfare Services
- Intergenerational Transmission of Maltreatment
- International Human Trafficking
- International Social Welfare
- International Social Work
- International Social Work and Education
- International Social Work and Social Welfare in Southern A...
- Internet and Video Game Addiction
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy
- Intervention with Traumatized Populations
- Interviewing
- Intimate-Partner Violence
- Juvenile Justice
- Kinship Care
- Korean Americans
- Latinos and Latinas
- Law, Social Work and the
- LGBTQ Populations and Social Work
- Life Span
- Mainland European Social Work, History of
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Management and Administration in Social Work
- Maternal Mental Health
- Measurement, Scales, and Indices
- Medical Illness
- Men: Health and Mental Health Care
- Mental Health
- Mental Health Diagnosis and the Addictive Substance Disord...
- Mental Health Needs of Older People, Assessing the
- Mental Health Services from 1990 to 2023
- Mental Illness: Children
- Mental Illness: Elders
- Meta-analysis
- Microskills
- Middle East and North Africa, International Social Work an...
- Military Social Work
- Mixed Methods Research
- Moral distress and injury in social work
- Motivational Interviewing
- Multiculturalism
- Native Americans
- Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
- Neighborhood Social Cohesion
- Neuroscience and Social Work
- Nicotine Dependence
- Occupational Social Work
- Organizational Development and Change
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Palliative Care: Evolution and Scope of Practice
- Pandemics and Social Work
- Parent Training
- Participatory Community Based Research
- Personalization
- Person-in-Environment
- Philosophy of Science and Social Work
- Physical Disabilities
- Podcasts and Social Work
- Police Social Work
- Political Social Work in the United States
- Positive Youth Development
- Postmodernism and Social Work
- Postsecondary Education Experiences and Attainment Among Y...
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Poverty
- Practice Interventions and Aging
- Practice Interventions with Adolescents
- Practice Research
- Primary Prevention in the 21st Century
- Productive Engagement of Older Adults
- Profession, Social Work
- Program Development and Grant Writing
- Promoting Smart Decarceration as a Grand Challenge
- Psychiatric Rehabilitation
- Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theory
- Psychoeducation
- Psychometrics
- Psychopathology and Social Work Practice
- Psychopharmacology and Social Work Practice
- Psychosocial Framework
- Psychosocial Intervention with Women
- Psychotherapy and Social Work
- Qualitative Research
- Race and Racism
- Randomized Controlled Trials in Social Work
- Readmission Policies in Europe
- Redefining Police Interactions with People Experiencing Me...
- Refugee Children, Unaccompanied Immigrant and
- Rehabilitation
- Religiously Affiliated Agencies
- Reproductive Health
- Research
- Research Ethics
- Restorative Justice
- Risk Assessment in Child Protection Services
- Risk Management in Social Work
- Rural Social Work in China
- Rural Social Work Practice
- School Social Work
- School Violence
- School-Based Delinquency Prevention
- Services and Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Youth
- Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Adults
- Sexual and Gender Minority Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylu...
- Sexual Assault
- Single-System Research Designs
- Social and Economic Impact of US Immigration Policies on U...
- Social Development
- Social Insurance and Social Justice
- Social Intervention Research
- Social Justice and Social Work
- Social Movements
- Social Planning
- Social Policy
- Social Policy in Denmark
- Social Security in the United States (OASDHI)
- Social Work and Islam
- Social Work and Social Welfare in East, West, and Central ...
- Social Work and Social Welfare in Europe
- Social Work Education and Research
- Social Work Leadership
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Contributing to the Cla...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the fou...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Who Contributed to Soci...
- Social Work Practice, Rare and Orphan Diseases and
- Social Work Regulation
- Social Work Research Methods
- Social Work Theory
- Social Work with Interpreters
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Strategic Planning
- Strengths Perspective
- Strengths-Based Models in Social Work
- Substance Use Disorders
- Suicide
- Supplemental Security Income
- Survey Research
- Sustainability: Creating Social Responses to a Changing En...
- Syrian Refugees in Turkey
- Systematic Review Methods
- Task-Centered Practice
- Technologies to Improve Social Work Practice and Education
- Technology Adoption in Social Work Education
- Technology for Social Work Interventions
- Technology, Human Relationships, and Human Interaction
- Technology in Social Work
- Terminal Illness
- Terrorism
- The Impact of Systemic Racism on Latinxs’ Experiences with...
- Transdisciplinary Science
- Translational Science and Social Work
- Transnational Perspectives in Social Work
- Transtheoretical Model of Change
- Trauma
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Triangulation
- Tribal child welfare practice in the United States
- Unions
- United States, History of Social Welfare in the
- Universal Basic Income
- Veteran Services
- Vicarious Trauma and Resilience in Social Work Practice wi...
- Vicarious Trauma Redefining PTSD
- Victim Services
- Violence
- Virtual Reality and Social Work
- Welfare State Reform in France
- Welfare State Theory
- Women and Macro Social Work Practice
- Women's Health Care
- Work and Family in the German Welfare State
- Workfare
- Workforce Development of Social Workers Pre- and Post-Empl...
- Working with Non-Voluntary and Mandated Clients
- Young and Adolescent Lesbians
- Youth at Risk
- Youth Services