William Joseph Myles Starkie (10 December 1860 – 21 July 1920) was a noted Greek scholar and translator of Aristophanes. He was President of Queen's College, Galway (1897–1899) and the last Resident Commissioner of National Education for Ireland in the United Kingdom (1899–1920).
On his return to Ireland he chose to lead an academic career. Obliged to begin again as a freshman at Trinity College, Dublin, he won the first classical scholarship, the Berkeley gold medal for Greek and was later awarded the Madden Prize, which allowed him to travel in Palestine and Persia. In 1890, having obtained the highest recorded marks in classics, he became a Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College. In 1897 he published The Wasps of Aristophanes, or Vespae which became the first of the Aristophanic works which established his distinction in the field.[5] That same year he resigned his Fellowship to become President of Queen's College in Galway.[6] He received honorary degrees from Trinity College (1898) and the Royal University of Ireland (1909). In 1914 he became a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.[7]
On 25 July 1893 he married May, the daughter of Cornelius Walsh, a Dublin solicitor. She had been one of his students at Alexandra College in Dublin where he had once taught Classics. Hers was a colourful family that their two eldest children went on to describe, Enid in her autobiography, A Lady's Child, and Walter in his autobiography, Scholars and Gypsies. Their other children were Muriel, Ida (known as Chou-Chou), Nancy, and Humphrey Robert who died in infancy (1916).
Resident commissioner of educationedit
He was appointed Resident Commissioner of National Education for Ireland in February 1899 and showed the vigour and freedom from convention unusual in holders of official positions. He set out to reform the existing educational system and his opponents had reason to dread the vigour of his onslaught.[8] He started with abolishing the 'Results' system in which the amount of a teacher's salary depended on the results of the annual oral examinations of their pupils. This tended to produce a very mechanical form of teaching aimed mainly at satisfying the Inspector. A child could pass a Reading Test and not understand a word of it. With the payment of a regular salary matters improved.[9] In 1904 he began a campaign to amalgamate small schools, but here he ran afoul of the Catholic Bishops and clergy. Catholic Canon law delegated the moral supervision of each child to his parish priest. In addition some clerics opposed the amalgamation of boys and girls schools as being morally dangerous. In the end the Catholic authorities prevailed.[10]
He was responsible for making Shakespeare familiar to the boys and girls in the National schools throughout Ireland,[11] and he also introduced Irish History into the National School's primary curriculum.[12] Up until then the authorities forbade lessons in Irish History or even Geography to prevent any chance of nurturing independence in the classroom. When authorising the distribution of the pro-establishment Irish history text by Patrick Weston Joyce,[13] Starkie stated, "There can be little doubt that the Board were guilty of narrow pedantry in neglecting as worthless the whole previous spiritual life of the pupil and the multitude of associations, imaginations, and sentiments that formed the contents of his consciousness."[14] However, after the Easter Rising of 1916, he withdrew Joyce's text from the classrooms declaring the teaching of Irish history too dangerous a subject for the National schools.[15] Some even claimed that by carrying recently sanctioned textbooks home children were actually corrupting their parents with nationalism.[16]
He died at Cushendun on 21 July 1920 from diabetes, one year before the discovery of insulin.[17] He is buried with his wife, May Caroline (13 July 1871 – 20 February 1961) at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.[18] His son was the scholar Walter Starkie, known for his books on his travels with the Gypsies and as a Spanish translator. His eldest daughter was Enid Starkie, who was known for her biographies of French poets.
starkie, william, joseph, myles, starkie, december, 1860, july, 1920, noted, greek, scholar, translator, aristophanes, president, queen, college, galway, 1897, 1899, last, resident, commissioner, national, education, ireland, united, kingdom, 1899, 1920, conte. William Joseph Myles Starkie 10 December 1860 21 July 1920 was a noted Greek scholar and translator of Aristophanes He was President of Queen s College Galway 1897 1899 and the last Resident Commissioner of National Education for Ireland in the United Kingdom 1899 1920 Contents 1 Life 2 Resident commissioner of education 3 Works translated 4 Other writings 5 References 6 External linksLife editHe was born at Rosses Point Sligo where his father was resident magistrate He was the fifth son of William Robert Starkie JP 1824 1897 and Francis Powers Starkie 1 He spent his early years at Creggane Manor in Rosscarbery near Cork with his four older brothers and younger sister Edyth Starkie who became a painter and was married to Arthur Rackham 2 After a short time at Clongowes Wood College he entered Shrewsbury School Shropshire in 1877 and was the only Roman Catholic in the school He became one of the Shrewsbury Rowing crew and was also Head of School before he went to Trinity College Cambridge in 1880 Three years later he took his First in the Classical Tripos 3 and then abandoned the chance of a Fellowship to set off and wander in Italy and Greece 4 On his return to Ireland he chose to lead an academic career Obliged to begin again as a freshman at Trinity College Dublin he won the first classical scholarship the Berkeley gold medal for Greek and was later awarded the Madden Prize which allowed him to travel in Palestine and Persia In 1890 having obtained the highest recorded marks in classics he became a Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College In 1897 he published The Wasps of Aristophanes or Vespae which became the first of the Aristophanic works which established his distinction in the field 5 That same year he resigned his Fellowship to become President of Queen s College in Galway 6 He received honorary degrees from Trinity College 1898 and the Royal University of Ireland 1909 In 1914 he became a member of the Privy Council of Ireland 7 On 25 July 1893 he married May the daughter of Cornelius Walsh a Dublin solicitor She had been one of his students at Alexandra College in Dublin where he had once taught Classics Hers was a colourful family that their two eldest children went on to describe Enid in her autobiography A Lady s Child and Walter in his autobiography Scholars and Gypsies Their other children were Muriel Ida known as Chou Chou Nancy and Humphrey Robert who died in infancy 1916 Resident commissioner of education editHe was appointed Resident Commissioner of National Education for Ireland in February 1899 and showed the vigour and freedom from convention unusual in holders of official positions He set out to reform the existing educational system and his opponents had reason to dread the vigour of his onslaught 8 He started with abolishing the Results system in which the amount of a teacher s salary depended on the results of the annual oral examinations of their pupils This tended to produce a very mechanical form of teaching aimed mainly at satisfying the Inspector A child could pass a Reading Test and not understand a word of it With the payment of a regular salary matters improved 9 In 1904 he began a campaign to amalgamate small schools but here he ran afoul of the Catholic Bishops and clergy Catholic Canon law delegated the moral supervision of each child to his parish priest In addition some clerics opposed the amalgamation of boys and girls schools as being morally dangerous In the end the Catholic authorities prevailed 10 He was responsible for making Shakespeare familiar to the boys and girls in the National schools throughout Ireland 11 and he also introduced Irish History into the National School s primary curriculum 12 Up until then the authorities forbade lessons in Irish History or even Geography to prevent any chance of nurturing independence in the classroom When authorising the distribution of the pro establishment Irish history text by Patrick Weston Joyce 13 Starkie stated There can be little doubt that the Board were guilty of narrow pedantry in neglecting as worthless the whole previous spiritual life of the pupil and the multitude of associations imaginations and sentiments that formed the contents of his consciousness 14 However after the Easter Rising of 1916 he withdrew Joyce s text from the classrooms declaring the teaching of Irish history too dangerous a subject for the National schools 15 Some even claimed that by carrying recently sanctioned textbooks home children were actually corrupting their parents with nationalism 16 He died at Cushendun on 21 July 1920 from diabetes one year before the discovery of insulin 17 He is buried with his wife May Caroline 13 July 1871 20 February 1961 at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin 18 His son was the scholar Walter Starkie known for his books on his travels with the Gypsies and as a Spanish translator His eldest daughter was Enid Starkie who was known for her biographies of French poets Works translated editThe Wasps of Aristophanes 1897 Acharnians of Aristophanes 1909 The Clouds 1911 Other writings editRecent editions of Catullus 1890 Recent Reforms in Irish Education 1902 Dr Starkie and the Catholic Clerical National School Managers of Ireland 1903 with John Curry A History of Irish Primary and Secondary Education during the last decade 1911 Early Attic comedy and its bearings upon political and social life at Athens 1911 Continuation Schools 1912 Gospel According to St Matthew XXVI 45 and XXVIII 2 1920 An Aristotelian analysis of the comic illustrated from Aristophanes Rabelais Shakespeare and Moliere 1920 References edit Who Was Who 1916 1928 p 989 90 Hamilton James Edyth Starkie PDF Irish Arts Review Archived from the original PDF on 5 December 2013 Retrieved 27 June 2012 Starkie William Joseph Myles STRY880WJ A Cambridge Alumni Database University of Cambridge Joanna Richardson Enid Starkie A Biography 1973 Joanna Richardson Enid Starkie A Biography 1973 Our History amp Heritage NUI Galway Archived from the original on 2 November 2021 Who Was Who 1916 1928 p 989 90 Joanna Richardson Enid Starkie A Biography 1973 Sean O Cathain Secondary Education in Ireland 1958 p 2 Donald H Akenson Education and enmity the control of schooling in Northern Ireland 1973 p 13 Walter Starkie Scholars and Gypsies 1963 p 36 Guy Beiner Remembering the Year of the French Irish Folk History and Social Memory 2007 p 297 Janet Nolan Servants of the Poor Teachers and Mobility in Ireland and Irish America 2004 p 29 Michael C Coleman American Indians the Irish and government schooling a comparative study 2007 p 145 Janet Nolan Servants of the Poor Teachers and Mobility in Ireland and Irish America 2004 p 29 Michael C Coleman American Indians the Irish and government schooling a comparative study 2007 p 199 Enid Starkie A Lady s Child 1941 William Joseph Myles Starkie 1861 1920 Find A Grave Archived from the original on 16 November 2021 External links editWorks by or about W J M Starkie at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title W J M Starkie amp oldid 1109195105, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
