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THE FIRST NATIONAL conference on Irish workhouses will take place in Galway next month.
The conference will give an overview of the workhouse system and also consider the future of workhouse buildings that remain today.
Researchers, writers and lecturers will give presentations during the weekend on May 17 and 18 in Portumna.
The Workhouse
Emigration, starvation or the workhouse…those were the options for many people during the famine in Ireland and so the numbers in the workhouses increased dramatically.
By the autumn of 1846, the workhouses couldn’t deal with the overcrowding, disease and deaths.
Corpses, without coffins, were carried on carts day after day to be thrown into mass burial pits in the workhouse grounds.
But it wasn’t just the famine years that workhouses operated in Ireland, they existed from the early 1840s to the early 1920s, 163 of them in total.
While there was widespread destitution before the famine years the number of people entering the workhouses was low as they were the last resort of destitute people.
But that changed when the potato crop diseased in 1846.
Hardship
The workhouses are considered to be the most hated and feared institution ever established in Ireland.
Life was meant to be harsh so as not to encourage people to stay but people got food in return for doing work.
One of the cruellest aspects of the system was that family members were split up into separate quarters. There were a lot of children in the workhouses and the conditions were terrible for them.
One of the ways to get out of the workhouse was through emigration.
Mary Ann Taylor received assisted passage from Mountbellew Workhouse in County Galway to go to Australia in 1853 when she was 18 years old.
Her great grandson, Bill Marwick will be at the conference to recount Mary Ann’s story.
Bill was born in York, Western Australia and is a former mayor and councillor of the cities of Wanneroo and Joondalup.
The workhouse system was abolished by the new Irish parliament in the early 1920s. However, it continued to operate in the six counties until the 1940s.
Future
While many of the workhouse buildings were destroyed or became derelict, a number still survive today.
Presentations will be given on the current efforts to find new appropriate uses for old workhouse buildings. Workhouses remain in:
The conference will be opened by Minister for Skills and Training, Ciarán Cannon.
Guided tours of the Irish Workhouse Centre will take place on both days, it’s located in the former Portumna Workhouse.
This conference is organised by the Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna in partnership with the Heritage Office, Galway County Council.
For further information e-mail info@irishworkhousecentre.ie
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I get the impression she wants the top job down the line and thus have no doubt she’ll rejoin eventually.
I don’t pretend to be able to gaze into her soul personally… but I’m very skeptical of pro lifers, not only because these social conservative types tend to have the most weird and unconventional private lives not at all in keeping with their public philosophy but they stink of hypocrisy.
They believe life begins at conception, but they apparently think it ends at birth because these very same people claiming to have pains of conscience had no problem depriving kids of an education, special needs kids of the help they need, taking medical cards off them etc just as long as you don’t terminate a pregnancy before the fetus is even capable of being classed as a separate life form that can survive on it’s own…I just don’t buy that lack of consistency.
The reform party looks the same as Indo FF and I’ve no doubt they’ll be back in the fold eventually, theres no real ideological differences with the party other than their opposition to one of the most conservative and narrow abortion regimes on the face of the earth.
I was convinced she would re join. Cant remember who it was I said it to on this a way back but if you are reading this, SOZ! You were right, I was wrong.
Writing on the wall…. P.Ds part 2…
No doubt she will lead a very successful new party. She has great advisers in Michael McDowell and Eoghan Harris. McDowell ran away fro RDS in 2007 without saying goodbye,after backing Bertie & FF for years, LTR, Free market philosophy. As for Harris well he also backed Bertie, got his 30 pieces of silver in senate. All because of dirty deal made by Bertie and Aengus Fanning in 2007. Lucinda had no problem with cutbacks, but would not legislate for X case following on Supreme Court decision,and 2 referenda in 1992 and 2002.
Eoghan Harris is a fool that has bounced from Christian Socialism, to Communism, to nationalism, Unionism, post imperialism and Christian democracy and liberal economics in one life time. He has no idea what he stands for or why.
He is a parody of himself at this stage.
McDowell is great from a policy point of view for a party but he is electoral poison and would also fall out with everyone else before the first meeting even broke for refreshments.
I think the Reform Alliance can fill a sizeable niche if they have the courage to go for it.
Eoghan Harris – great adviser! funny man Brendan
Good riddance!
They have been going on so long about starting a new party that it is a bit of a joke.
They had a 1000 people at a monster meeting and that was that.
If they aren’t doing something in the next month or two then forget it.
I heard she’s waiting until the summertime. The Journal comment crew might self-implode with anger if they had to face Creighton setting up a new party and the local & European elections at the same time.
FG loss I’m sure…..
Oh look how magnanimous we are now, after having bullied one of the most capable out of the party.
Capable? Two faced opportunist more like. She’s typical of irish politicians.
I don’t agree; she could have stayed, she stuck to her election promise (I disagree with her,but admire her for doing it) , she left a Ministerial job and now will probably never get a senior position even if she returned to the party. I wouldn’t vote for her but have respect for her for having principles unlike most politicians in Ireland.
Sounds to me like she’s just signed her own political-death warrant…
A vile woman and arch bigot. Pity her poor children being raised in such a house of hatred
Creighton “Vote Yes for Jobs”
Why not change it to Irish Reform Alliance. Then we can have FG, FF, Lab, SF and IRA
Smart move by lucinda….2 years to set up a new party and become king pin in forming next govt.she sees the writing on the wall for labour and with sf about to step into the void left by labour kenny going to be faced with resurgent ff,sf replacing labour, and independents as potential bed fellows as fg will lose seats and will require a coalition partner….kennys worse nightmare so does he jump into bed with sf, stranger things have happened, we only have to look at the north and the chuckle brothers or does he court lucinda and her new party…..Going to make for an interesting next couple of years if the govt manages to survive….and that survival all depends on labours fortunes come the local and Euro elections….Labour gets hammered then Gilmore will be replaced and expect new leader to force Kenny to drop Quinn,Rabitt and Howlin from cabinet.If Labour do well then govt will run full course however Labour will be faced with general election wipe out and new FG and SF taking their seats….Political landscape going to interesting
Yes I would
I have no respect for this woman, she was elected as a servant of the people & to do the people’s will and yet ignored all of that and did what Lucinda wanted. Good riddance.
Yet again this woman does NOTHING and she is gonna do NOTHING tomorrow,and we have a story in The Journal.
Lucinda who?
And hopefully that’s the last we will be hearing from her.
The Reform Alliance?
Up the RA!
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