Although Ireland had introduced some establishments to provide for the poor since the 1700s (known as ‘Houses of Industry’), a comprehensive response to the country’s enormous poverty among ordinary people was only introduced in 1838, with the passing of the ‘Poor Law Act’.
Initially there were 19 workhouses in Connaught, 36 in Leinster, 32 in Munster and 43 in Ulster, with most being built during the 1840s. They ranged from small institutions (housing 200 to 300 inhabitants), medium (providing for 400 to 600 people), or large (providing for 1000 or more). Although workhouses were often seen as hated institutions – or a last resort – among local people, they nevertheless experienced significant demand during the Famine years, when lack of hunger, and increasing evictions drove thousands to their doors.
For desperate people and families, the workhouse provided some respite, offering clothing, food and shelter – albeit very basic – in return for work. The food consisted of two meals a day for adults, and three for children, and inhabitants slept in dormitories segregated by age and gender. Often, people arrived there in rags, so the simple coat, trousers, shirt and cap (for men), and striped jerkin, petticoat, cap and shift (for women) provided to them marked an improvement. However, during the Famine, clothes were often not available, and the food was noted to be of poor nutritional value.
The Famine years were marked not only by widespread starvation, but also rampant disease, and by the 1850s, this was the biggest threat within the workhouses, as overcrowding meant people were living in extremely close quarters, and could fall victim to typhus, dysentery, scurvy and relapsing fever. In addition to this, the workhouse policy of separating inhabitants into groups – men, women, girls aged two to fourteen, and boys aged two to fourteen – meant families were split up and often didn’t know the fate of their loved ones.
This workhouse was built in 1841 by architect George Wilkinson for the Poor Law Commissioners, and was considered ‘large’, with the capacity to house 1000 inmates. However, after opening the following year, its numbers grew rapidly, and by the late 1840s, Ballinasloe workhouse held 4000 people inside, and another 4000 outside. As a result, it was marked by problems with providing sufficient food and accommodation, and this led to the deaths of 254 people (both inmates and officers) in the last two months of 1846.
Three years later, a letter written to the Westmeath Independent critiqued the authorities responsible for the workhouse, after the writer witnessed 50 to 60 people left outside in extreme weather without food or other relief. A second report by an English visitor – published in the Evening Packet, also in 1849 – documented the spread of diseases such as cholera, with local buildings being used as hospitals for the sick, marked by serious overcrowding, leading to hundreds of deaths in only one room.
From the early 19th century, a lack of economic opportunities drove many Irish to leave the country, especially when Canada began to offer cheap fares based on its booming timber industry, which was already making regular transatlantic journeys to sell its products to Europe. The arrival of the Famine in the mid-1840s made emigration an increasingly attractive option, and people often relied on support from family and friends overseas to secure a fare. But there was also a ‘push’ effect, as landowners and local officials saw an opportunity to reduce the number of people on their land, or those looking for a place in the workhouses. In the case of the former, landlords often chartered ships to enable tenants to leave, and sometimes paid them to do so. And when it came to workhouses, often part of the funding they received via the local ‘Poor Rate’ was put towards helping people to leave. Many people actually tried to enter their local workhouses hoping they would be selected to emigrate, but in 1849, this was restricted to those who had been resident for at least two years.
Following the introduction of male convicts to the Swan River Colony in 1850, the disparity between men and women in the colony became a serious issue, driving demand for women emigrants. Initially, young women in England were targeted, but many were uninterested in travelling to such a far-flung and isolated location. But British Emigration Commissioners found much more fertile ground in the workhouses of Ireland, asking Guardians of the latter to select girls for emigration to the colony.