At the end of 1847 there were a total of 3,825 National Schools in the 32 counties of Ireland attended by a total of 402,632 children. Just one year later the number of schools had grown to 4,109 with a massive 25% increase in the number of pupils to 507,469. This increase was attributed by the Commissioners of Education in their annual report for that year to the food distribution program by the British Relief Association.
On April 1st 1848 a system came into effect whereby teachers’ annual salaries were determined by their grade as determined by the 4 Head Inspectors whose responsibility it was to assess each teacher in the country. Male teachers were assessed during 1848 with the plan of assessing female teachers during 1849.
A percentage of the teachers in Inishowen were assessed in 1848. The details of the salary scales and those assessed are given in the link :
Partial listing of Inishowen National School teachers 1848
Ref : “The Fifteenth Report of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland (For the year 1848)” Printed by Alexander Thom, 87 Abbey Street for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office 1849