The Presbyterian Church, whose adherents are found principally in Ulster and are the descendants of Scotch settlers, was originally formed in the middle of the 17th century, and in 1840 a reunion took place of the two divisions into which the Church had formerly separated. The governing body is the General Assembly, consisting of ministers and laymen. In 1906 there were 569 congregations, arranged under 36 presbyteries, with 647 ministers. The ministers are supported by a sustentation fund formed of voluntary contributions, the rents of seats and pews, and the proceeds of the commutation of the Regium Donum made by the commissioners under the Irish Church Act 1869. Two colleges are connected with the denomination, the General Assembly’s College, Belfast, and the Magee College, Londonderry. In 1881 the faculty of the Belfast College and the theological professors of the Magee College were incorporated and constituted as a faculty with the power of granting degrees in divinity.
The Methodist Church in Ireland was formed in 1878 by the Union of the Wesleyan with the Primitive Wesleyan Methodists. The number of ministers is over 250.
Education.—The following table shows that the proportion per cent of the total population of five years old and upwards able to read and write has been steadily rising since 1861:—
| Proportion per cent. | |||||
| 1861. | 1871. | 1881. | 1891. | 1901. | |
| Read and write | 41 | 49 | 59 | 71 | 79 |
| Read only | 20 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 7 |
| Neither read nor write | 39 | 33 | 25 | 18 | 14 |
Further details on the same subject, according to provinces and religious denominations in 1901, are subjoined:—
| Leinster. | Munster. | Ulster. | Connaught. | |
| Roman Catholics— | ||||
| Read and write | 80 | 80 | 70 | 72 |
| Read only | 7 | 5 | 11 | 7 |
| Neither read nor write | 13 | 15 | 19 | 21 |
| Protestant Episcopalians— | ||||
| Read and write | 95 | 95 | 81 | 93 |
| Read only | 1 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| Neither read nor write | 4 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| Presbyterians— | ||||
| Read and write | 97 | 96 | 88 | 95 |
| Read only | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Neither read nor write | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Methodists— | ||||
| Read and write | 97 | 97 | 90 | 96 |
| Read only | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Neither read nor write | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Others— | ||||
| Read and write | 91 | 91 | 90 | 94 |
| Read only | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Neither read nor write | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| Total— | ||||
| Read and write | 83 | 81 | 79 | 72 |
| Read only | 6 | 5 | 9 | 7 |
| Neither read nor write | 11 | 14 | 12 | 21 |
Language.—The number of persons who speak Irish only continues to decrease. In 1881 they numbered 64,167; in 1891, 38,192; and in 1901, 20,953. If to those who spoke Irish only are added the persons who could speak both Irish and English, the total number who could speak Irish in 1901 was 641,142 or about 14% of the population. The purely Irish-speaking population is to be found principally in the province of Connaught, where in 1901 they numbered over 12,000. The efforts of the Gaelic League, founded to encourage the study of Gaelic literature and the Irish language, produced results seen in the census returns for 1901, which showed that the pupils learning Irish had very largely increased as compared with 1891.
The university of Dublin (q.v.), which is for practical purposes identical with Trinity College, Dublin, was incorporated in 1591. The government is in the hands of a board consisting of the provost and the senior fellows, assisted by Universities and colleges. a council in the election of professors and in the regulation of studies. The council is composed of the provost (and, in his absence, the vice-provost) and elected members. There is also a senate, composed of the chancellor or vice-chancellor and all doctors and masters who have kept their names on the books of Trinity College. Religious tests were abolished in 1873, and the university is now open to all; but, as a matter of fact, the vast majority of the students, even since the abolition of tests, have always belonged to the Church of Ireland, and the divinity school is purely Protestant.
In pursuance of the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879, the Queen’s University in Ireland was superseded in 1882 by the Royal University of Ireland, it being provided that the graduates and students of the former should have similar rank in the new university. The government of the Royal University was vested in a senate consisting of a chancellor and senators, with power to grant all such degrees as could be conferred by any university in the United Kingdom, except in theology. Female students had exactly the same rights as male students. The university was simply an examining body, no residence in any college nor attendance at lectures being obligatory. All appointments to the senate and to fellowships were made on the principle that one half of those appointed should be Roman Catholics and the other half Protestants; and in such subjects as history and philosophy there were two courses of study prescribed, one for Roman Catholics and the other for Protestants. In 1905 the number who matriculated was 947, of whom 218 were females, and the number of students who passed the academic examinations was 2190. The university buildings are in Dublin and the fellows were mostly professors in the various colleges whose students were undergraduates.
The three Queen’s Colleges, at Belfast, Cork and Galway, were founded in 1849 and until 1882 formed the Queen’s University. Their curriculum comprised all the usual courses of instruction, except theology. They were open to all denominations, but, as might be expected, the Belfast college (dissolved under the Irish Universities Act 1908; see below) was almost entirely Protestant. Its situation in a great industrial centre also made it the most important and flourishing of the three, its students numbering over 400. It possessed an excellent medical school, which was largely increased owing to private benefactions.