This book underlines the major contribution that Irish emigrants and missionaries made to education all over the world and seeks to examine their legacy to the countries in which they have settles from the sixth to the twentieth century.

The author introduces the book by examining the Irish educational heritage, underlining its heterogeneous character as a result of its assimilation of druidic, bardic and classical influences combined with a monastic culture whose emphasis on scholarly learning was to become one of the distinctive features of all subsequent developments in Irish education at home and abroad.

The first part deals with Irish missionary education from 600 to 1900 A.D. It describes the Irish Continental College Movement from 1600 to 1800 and Irish immigrant education in Great Britain from 1600 to 1900.

The second part deals with developments in colonial America and the USA from 1640 to 1845. It describes the growth of Irish immigrant education right up to the present day and demonstrates the major contribution of Catholic education right up to the evolution of community education in the USA. Irish immigrant education in Canada from 1600 to the present day is also discussed in detail.

The third part illustrates the valuable contribution of Irish immigrants in the sphere of education in Australia from 1788 to 1990. The final part looks at Irish missionary movement from 1800 to 1960 and deals specifically with Irish missionary education in West, East and Southern Africa.