In Cork some 25,000 students were affected by the strike as teachers picketed 70 schools in the city and county.
On various picket lines the protesting teachers said they had been well received by the public and their claim for a 30 per cent pay rise was seen as justified by the nature of their work.
Mr Christy O'Connor, who has spent 26 years at the North Monastery in Cork, said he believed students realised teachers were underpaid.
Small groups of teachers gathered outside the schools on a fine but extremely cold day. They said members of the public had commiserated with them on the weather and even offered them bowls of soup.
"You can take it that we would much rather be inside these gates teaching our pupils than standing outside protesting for the right to earn a decent and realistic salary," said one teacher.