Appendix 1: A Brief Outline of the Workhouse

The information here is drawn from the book by Michael Farrell[6]. The Poor Law system was initially set up in 1834 in England and Wales to deal with the poor and destitute. The view was that most of the destitute were lazy or idle so the workhouses were intended to provide food and shelter under grim conditions and for the inmates to do harsh and unpleasant work. The workhouse was conceived to deter all but the most desperate.

The commission in Ireland identified that the problem of the poor was different. They were willing and keen to work but there was no employment, and they estimated that 30% of the population of about eight million in the 1830s were poor or destitute in Ireland. This was mainly due to trying to survive on extremely small holdings. The Irish commission recommended a program to develop employment but this was overruled by the British government and the Poor Law Bill became law in Ireland in 1838. To obtain relief a family had to abandon their home or farm. Workhouses were built to the cheapest description compatible with durability and all “mere decoration” was “studiously excluded”. Employment for the inmates was provided of such a nature as to be “irksome” to discourage inmates from remaining at the workhouse.

During the famine, workhouses were overflowing and outdoor relief was paid to the poor who could not be housed. Again in 1879 to 1881 there was a sharp agricultural depression and outdoor relief was required. By 1890 the workhouse had become mainly an institution for the aged, mentally handicapped and children. A 1906 report recommended that the workhouses be replaced with district hospitals and old people’s and children’s homes. Workhouses were finally abolished in the Irish free State in 1923; they were only finally closed in Northern Ireland in 1948.

Belfast Workhouse exploder overlay The Belfast workhouse, where Patrick Murphy was born, was built to the plan of architect George Wilkinson. It had rough stone walls, which were not plastered, just whitewashed. There were no ceilings, just rafters. Floors were made of mortar and there were sleeping platforms instead of beds. Inmates slept on straw mattresses. Families were broken up and segregated. Men and boys were separated from women and girls. They could meet about once a week. All wore workhouse clothes. A pauper could quit the workhouse by giving three hours’ notice, but had to take the whole family with him.