Ireland, from the late 50's experienced a new era of economic expansion and this coincided with changing societal norms and expectations. Concurrently, An Taoiseach Lemass appointed Donogh O’Malley and others as Ministers for Education and these individuals transformed the Ministry o f Education from its previously laissezfaire function to a new role of assertive leadership/initiator of change. Donogh O’Malley served as Minister for Education for twenty months until his untimely death on 10 March, 1968. During this short period, he abolished the Primary Certificate examination, considered reports on Regional Technical Colleges and the Commission on Higher Education, established the Ryan Tribunal on Teacher Salaries and controversially proposed a merger between University College, Dublin and Trinity College, Dublin. He is best known as the Minister for Education who proposed a scheme of free second level education. The puipose o f this dissertation is to analyse previously available public comments and the recently available private cabinet/ministerial and secondary school managerial papers regarding Minister O’Malley’s free education scheme. This is supplemented by letters, interviews and recollections of persons familiar with the circumstances of this scheme. The manner of the announcement of the free post-primary scheme was sudden and surprising and involved An Taoiseach Lemass in vetting the announcement speech.