Birr: Famine Workhouse

slowburner

Last Monday night, I watched the actress/comedian Rosie O'Donnell search for her Irish roots. The research brought her to where her ancestors had been given leave by the workhouse governors to emigrate to Canada during the famine. That particular workhouse was near Naas, Co.Kildare and no longer exists. So the programme makers visited Birr workhouse instead.
I thought I heard them mention that it is the only surviving example in the country. Could this be true?
If it is, then it is a national disgrace.
Such a crucial, living connection to a terrible moment in our history and it is falling to pieces.

jonniebgood1

I know of the Bawnboy workhouse which up to recently was in a state of delapidation but still exists. Most of the workhouses may have been destroyed given the stigma of their former use.

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Bawnboy/

jonniebgood1

I have also come across, in a quick search, Donaghmore museum which seems to be housed in a section of a former workhouse.
http://www.donaghmoremuseum.com/



Also Dunfanaghy in Donegal http://www.dunfanaghyworkhouse.ie/index_about_the_workhouse.html

slowburner

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

I know of the Bawnboy workhouse which up to recently was in a state of delapidation but still exists. Most of the workhouses may have been destroyed given the stigma of their former use.

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Bawnboy/

That link is just heart breaking JBG.
I fully understand what you say about the stigma associated with these buildings. But isn't just dreadful that we do not seem capable of embracing the heritage of that terrible time. It made us who we are, not just at home but abroad too. Surely there is no person alive who is directly connected to the woes of the workhouse? Surely that stigma should be condemned to the past?
Each generation of Irish people is getting closer and closer to forgetting this cataclysmic event, or if they do not forget, they are beginning to perceive it as somehow too distant, irrelevant even.
We as a nation, have a civic duty to visit a workhouse in as close to its original state as possible and imagine the pain and the misery suffered by all who passed that threshold. I owe that to my ancestors. We all do in this time when we are not as wealthy as we used to be and we have lost sight of who we are.
Can I do anything about the decay of these national monuments, can anyone?

P. Breathnach

Here's one in good nick: http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/monaghan/carrickmacross/carrickmacrossworkhouse.html

MarchDub

slowburner wrote: »

That link is just heart breaking JBG.
I fully understand what you say about the stigma associated with these buildings. But isn't just dreadful that we do not seem capable of embracing the heritage of that terrible time. It made us who we are, not just at home but abroad too. Surely there is no person alive who is directly connected to the woes of the workhouse? Surely that stigma should be condemned to the past?
Each generation of Irish people is getting closer and closer to forgetting this cataclysmic event, or if they do not forget, they are beginning to perceive it as somehow too distant, irrelevant even.
We as a nation, have a civic duty to visit a workhouse in as close to its original state as possible and imagine the pain and the misery suffered by all who passed that threshold. I owe that to my ancestors. We all do in this time when we are not as wealthy as we used to be and we have lost sight of who we are.
Can I do anything about the decay of these national monuments, can anyone?

Well said. The recent 'wealth' of the nation did bring with it a certain historical amnesia and feelings of anathema towards our own past, or so it seemed to me. As if the present was to be in no way linked to our past and our history became something embarrassing, not heroic [as it ought to be].

We do owe it to our ancestors to remember their experiences and to continue to study it.

jonniebgood1

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Here's one in good nick: http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/monaghan/carrickmacross/carrickmacrossworkhouse.html

Excellent link. I had forgotten about this one- I drove by it 2 weeks ago and it is being renovated bit by bit still. It is in excellent condition as the link shows as it was used by Lakeland dairies from when its first use ended up until recently. It is now used for community training which I think is appropriate.

Today it stands as a testiment to those families who had no choice but to move into the workhouse for survival during famine times. It has been beautifully restored, as close to the original architecture and features as possible while making it a practical modern working environment with offices, meeting rooms and catering facilities. http://www.carrickmacrossworkhouse.com/html/history.asp

I think there are plans for a museum area in the building.

JohnFalstaff

This thread is quite timely as today marks the opening of the Irish Workhouse Centre in Portumna, Co. Galway. The centre is located in the old workhouse on the outskirts of the town which has been restored over the past few years.

There was a short documentray about the Portumna Workhouse screened at the Galway Film Fleadh last week. It is available to view online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHWI7DtEGJQ

It's only thirteen minutes long and gives a good general overview of the role the workhouse played in Irish society.

There is more information on the Portumna workhouse and its restoration here:
http://www.portumna.net/irishworkhousecentre/

slowburner

JohnFalstaff wrote: »

This thread is quite timely as today marks the opening of the Irish Workhouse Centre in Portumna, Co. Galway. The centre is located in the old workhouse on the outskirts of the town which has been restored over the past few years.

There was a short documentray about the Portumna Workhouse screened at the Galway Film Fleadh last week. It is available to view online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHWI7DtEGJQ

It's only thirteen minutes long and gives a good general overview of the role the workhouse played in Irish society.

There is more information on the Portumna workhouse and its restoration here:
http://www.portumna.net/irishworkhousecentre/

Powerful stuff.

P. Breathnach

Just a little clarification (relating to the thread title): while the workhouses have come to be associated with the Great Famine, they were actually instituted a few years earlier.

The creation of the Poor Law Unions might have been a good plan to deal with destitution as it happened in Ireland before the Great Famine, but we can't now judge how the system would have performed without the events of 1845-49. It is obvious that the workhouses, like almost everything else, were overwhelmed by the Great Famine.

slowburner

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Just a little clarification (relating to the thread title): while the workhouses have come to be associated with the Great Famine, they were actually instituted a few years earlier.

The creation of the Poor Law Unions might have been a good plan to deal with destitution as it happened in Ireland before the Great Famine, but we can't now judge how the system would have performed without the events of 1845-49. It is obvious that the workhouses, like almost everything else, were overwhelmed by the Great Famine.

Many thanks for the clarification and enlightenment.
For me, it is their use during the famine which has most meaning. I suppose what I want to do, is empathise with the suffering of those desperate people and there are precious few physical memorials left to foster this empathy.

P. Breathnach

slowburner wrote: »

Many thanks for the clarification and enlightenment.
For me, it is their use during the famine which has most meaning. I suppose what I want to do, is empathise with the suffering of those desperate people and there are precious few physical memorials left to foster this empathy.

Have you thought about where famine victims are buried? People were not accepted into workhouses until they were totally destitute, and when they died most of them received a pauper's funeral. Somewhere in the vicinity of each workhouse there is a burial ground where probably thousands of famine victims are buried in unmarked graves. Many of them share the common name for paupers' graveyards: Bully's Acre.

slowburner

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Have you thought about where famine victims are buried? People were not accepted into workhouses until they were totally destitute, and when they died most of them received a pauper's funeral. Somewhere in the vicinity of each workhouse there is a burial ground where probably thousands of famine victims are buried in unmarked graves. Many of them share the common name for paupers' graveyards: Bully's Acre.

Funny you should mention this. I spent a year at Ring Irish school many, many years ago as a boarder. There was an annual walk which used to pay a sort of indifferent respect to a famine burial in the locality (I was very young and my memories of its whereabouts are long gone). Possibly it was Reilig an tSléibhe - the name is familiar but the pictures look nothing like my dim memories. As far as I can recall, the one we passed was at a bend in the road with a depression to the side. It was the sort of place where you would expect fly-tipping these days. I have a distinct memory of the atmosphere there; it was not pleasant. To the best of my recollection, the burial ground was not marked at that time.
On a different note, I remember fishing a very remote lough in Connemara. It was customary on those trips to bring a substantial lunch. I had just eaten my lunch and we proceeded on our journey. Within minutes, I was hungry again, really hungry. This I was told, was ocras an portaigh (forgive me if I spell this incorrectly or if the term is wrong) and was the result of having eaten near where someone had fallen and died as a result of the famine.
Not a particularly erudite or historical post for this forum I know, just thought I would share my experiences.

It might interest you in your other research that the workhouse in Rathdrum was demolished in the 1970's. I don't know about Arklow or any others in the vicinity.

P. Breathnach

slowburner wrote: »

Funny you should mention this. I spent a year at Ring Irish school many, many years ago as a boarder. There was an annual walk which used to pay a sort of indifferent respect to a famine burial in the locality (I was very young and my memories of its whereabouts are long gone). Possibly it was Reilig an tSléibhe - the name is familiar but the pictures look nothing like my dim memories. As far as I can recall, the one we passed was at a bend in the road with a depression to the side. It was the sort of place where you would expect fly-tipping these days. I have a distinct memory of the atmosphere there; it was not pleasant. To the best of my recollection, the burial ground was not marked at that time.
On a different note, I remember fishing a very remote lough in Connemara. It was customary on those trips to bring a substantial lunch. I had just eaten my lunch and we proceeded on our journey. Within minutes, I was hungry again, really hungry. This I was told, was ocras an portaigh (forgive me if I spell this incorrectly or if the term is wrong) and was the result of having eaten near where someone had fallen and died as a result of the famine.
Not a particularly erudite or historical post for this forum I know, just thought I would share my experiences.

It might interest you in your other research that the workhouse in Rathdrum was demolished in the 1970's. I don't know about Arklow or any others in the vicinity.

In English, one sometimes hears of the "hungry grass" with the same explanation given.

Thanks for the interest in my genealogical research. Arklow was included in the Rathdrum Union. The records survive: I have met a historian who is commencing research on the workhouses of Wicklow. I formed the impression that quite a lot of workhouse documentation survives.

slowburner

P. Breathnach wrote: »

In English, one sometimes hears of the "hungry grass" with the same explanation given.

Thanks for the interest in my genealogical research. Arklow was included in the Rathdrum Union. The records survive: I have met a historian who is commencing research on the workhouses of Wicklow. I formed the impression that quite a lot of workhouse documentation survives.

I'll be stalking you over on the genealogy forum so. Vicarious research;)

i5kra

During the Famine the workhouses were overwhelmed with people looking for aid and they became a hotbed of disease (typhus and cholera) and mortality rates were massive. So there must be graveyards nearby???

I know that Loughlinstown hospital is a workhouse site (maybe the old building is still the original workhouse?)

Photos of abandoned workhouse in Bawnboy: http://www.urbanexploration.ie/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=40

OMGITSFLA

The story of the Irish Workhouse is now being told at the workhouse in Portumna, Co. Galway.
It opened as a visitor centre on Friday 15th July.
Check out www.irishworkhousecentre.ie
You can 'Like' the project on their facebook page 'Irish Workhouse Centre' so to keep up to date with this significant conservation project

AI

Bawnboy, Co. Cavan:
http://www.abandonedireland.com/Workhouse.html

Lismore, Co. Waterford
http://www.abandonedireland.com/Lismore_Workhouse.html

Wexford:
http://www.abandonedireland.com/Wexford_Workhouse.html


I'm not sure there is much going on at the Portumna workhouse.
When I stopped in for a look the place was totally deserted; I still had an interesting wander around though.

jonniebgood1

AI wrote: »

I'm not sure there is much going on at the Portumna workhouse.
When I stopped in for a look the place was totally deserted; I still had an interesting wander around though.

Recently?
The website looks impressive and it is very encouraging to see this type of conservation project in the current climate.

Regarding the OP the website posted above has a detailed table about surviving workhouses although it is a few years old http://irishworkhousecentre.ie/the-workhouse-story/irish-workhouses-today/

slowburner

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Recently?
The website looks impressive and it is very encouraging to see this type of conservation project in the current climate.

Agree 100%. I just hope that others can be saved in a similarly sensitive way to Portumna, rather than being converted or allowed to decay.

OMGITSFLA

I'm not sure there is much going on at the Portumna workhouse.
When I stopped in for a look the place was totally deserted; I still had an interesting wander around though.[/QUOTE]

You're not sure!!?
www.irishworkhousecentre.ie
The Portumna Workhouse was officially re-opened last Friday 15th July 2011 as a visitor centre telling the story of the Irish Workhouse. It was presided over by the local Priest, Vicar and a Quaker.
Over 150 people attended the opening ceremony and over 1,000 visitors have passed through the doors over the weekend.
Comprehensive website, Guided Tours with quiz for children and an Audio-Visual presentation available seven days a week.
Not much 'going on'.
It's hard to please some people

blue5000

slowburner wrote: »

On a different note, I remember fishing a very remote lough in Connemara. It was customary on those trips to bring a substantial lunch. I had just eaten my lunch and we proceeded on our journey. Within minutes, I was hungry again, really hungry. This I was told, was ocras an portaigh (forgive me if I spell this incorrectly or if the term is wrong) and was the result of having eaten near where someone had fallen and died as a result of the famine.
Not a particularly erudite or historical post for this forum I know, just thought I would share my experiences.

.

Does this mean that Chinese restaurants must be on the site of where famine victims fell so?

jonniebgood1

blue5000 wrote: »

Does this mean that Chinese restaurants must be on the site of where famine victims fell so?

What???

who the fug

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

What???

One is always hungry after a chinese