The Irish Workhouse Museum is Open!





Our inaugural plaque, designed and hand-painted by Paula Byrne

 The Irish Workhouse Museum is officially open! The opening on Saturday 18th was launched by Minister of State Sean Canney TD and marks a new, exciting era for the Irish Workhouse Centre (IWC). The museum is located in a former womens' workroom and houses the centre's collection of artefacts. These range from the shaft of a workhouse cart to the tiny, blacksmith made nails which were used in workhouse construction. The impact of the museum is succinctly described by long-term supporter of the project, Dr. Christy Cunniffe, Community Archaeologist for Galway. 

 'Artefacts and personal objects can tell big stories. The workhouse tour brings the building to life, and the museum will do the same for their objects. Just look at the pauper shoes we have discovered at Portumna. Nothing expresses the sadness of workhouse children like those reminders of tiny feet.'
A case of enamelware and bottles found in the workhouse infirmary

Workhouse objects are especially poignant when we consider that all Irish people, or people with Irish heritage, have ancestors who were touched by the workhouse system. They may have been paupers, paying the Poor Rate, or even employed by a workhouse. One way or other, they were part of the system. The museum is a chance to see items handled, very possibly, by your fore bearers. This certainly is of interest to Clare Doyle, genealogist, archivist and IWC staff member.

'As a family history researcher, I'm very interested in what the museum artefacts tell us about the people of the workhouse, people who were often on the margins of society and invisible to the outside world. Sometimes these people are without even a death record or headstone. The only link we have to them is through the objects of their daily life. In this way, the museum aids in remembering them, and showing that their suffering is not forgotten.'

Clare's words echo the changes that have been taking place in museum culture. A museum space has become something flexible, with a will to respond to community needs. With this in mind, the workhouse museum is keen to participate in various nationwide events throughout the year, whether it’s Museum Week, Heritage Week or Culture Night. The museum opeing coincides with Museum Week 2019 and the National Famine Commemoration Day. If you have an item which you think might be workhouse related, or a workhouse story, we would love to hear from you.
A handmade workhouse model, donated to the Irish Workhouse Museum by R. N. Franklin

Author: Elizabeth Carter

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Finnish Famine Exhibition

Image
-The Finnish Famine-    An Interview with Dr. Andrew Newby on his current exhibition at The Irish Workhouse Centre How did this exhibition come about? In 2012 I was pleased to receive an Academy of Finland Award to work on a five year project to compare the Irish and Finnish famines. This exhibition came out of that project. It travelled to Ireland to be displayed in The National Famine Museum at Strokestown but then migrated to the National University of Ireland, Galway. Just when I thought the exhibition had to return to Finland, I was delighted when the opportunity arose for it to be displayed at The Irish Workhouse Centre. How did you get involved in researching the Finnish Famine? I first heard about the Finnish Famine in 1997 from a Finnish Student. Being Irish and specifically a Mayo man, the topic of famine struck a chord with me. The fact that 1997 was the anniversary of Black ‘47 meant that famine research was already on the radar. I visited Fin...
Read more

Wretched Old Shoes

Image
Two original items from Portumna workhouse, one is a child's shoe & the other a man's boo t. At the Irish Workhouse Museum we are delighted to have several specimens of pauper shoes. However shoes were viewed as a troublesome topic by workhouse management. Some workhouses ordered boot parts and had the paupers assemble them. Others bought them in ready made. Whomever supplied the shoes, it is clear that covering the feet of the poor was not a priority. In Co. Galway alone, six of the ten workhouses were in dispute with the Poor Law Commissioners in England over shoe and stocking provision. The result was newspaper descriptions like the one below: stockingless and  h is feet   were scarcely protected by wretched old shoes   (The Nation-Saturday July 30, 1864) The old pauper described in this article was alleged to be suffering from exposure due to his treatment at Portumna workhouse. A mere six months later, Rev. P. Donalan R.C.C. alleged two women nam...
Read more

The Workhouse in Fiction

Image
Image from the 1968 movie Oliver! ‘Please sir, can I have some more?’ Most of us know this iconic line from the 1968 film version of Oliver! The quote has embedded itself in pop culture, cropping up in memes, advertisements, comedy sketches and cartoons. However, how many of us know that the line is a criticism of the meagre food quantities supplied to workhouse children? In fact, Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist as a rallying cry against child poverty and the failure of the workhouse system. He based this view on his first hand observations as a newspaper reporter. What he saw went into his books and shocked  his audiences. He was accused of gross exaggeration and even outright fabrication. His rebuttal was the tell people to go see for themselves, which they did. What they witnessed was all the proof he needed. Before we leave Dickens, it is interesting to note a slight connection with Irish workhouses. Oliver Twist was first published as a serial 1837–39. This peri...
Read more