The Irish Workhouse Museum

The two adult woman are: on the left May Conway (Gortanumera) and on the right Kitty Hayes (Al Hayes mother) The young girls from left to right are : Rita Conway, Josephine Conway, Mary Conway, Maeve Hayes, Esther Hayes and Ann Conway A few days ago, two ladies brought in a photograph taken at Portumna Workhouse in c.1964. The  occasion was the annual Portumna Show and in the background is a glimpse of the workhouse laundry building. The snapshot got us all talking about Portumna workhouse after it closed in 1921 so I decided to dig out our newspaper cuttings and see what I could find. Photo by  Rishabh Sharma  on  Unsplash The closure of Portumna Workhouse was announced in March 1921. Not every Galway workhouse is scheduled to shut. Galway, Tuam and Loughrea will stay open. Ballinasloe and Clifden are retained as District Hospitals.  (03 March 1921, The Irish Independent) Photo by  Cristina Gottardi  on  Unsplash B...

From left to right: Aileen O'Dowd, Mary Healy-Walshe, David Broderick, Clare Lowery, Frances Robinson, Donal Burke Last night saw the packed launch of the first ever book dedicated to a chapter of Portumna Workhouse history. Finding Ogle: The mystery of the Disappearing Master solves a century old mystery and is the debut book of Local Historian David Broderick. "In 1865 the Master of Portumna Workhouse, Henry Ogle, absconded under a shroud of mystery. It took over 150 years to finally find Ogle. Follow this fascinating story between Ogle and his nemesis, a determined missionary priest, Fr. Patrick Donnellan. The story begins in famine ravaged Ireland, explores the cruelty of the workhouse and crosses the Atlantic into the American Civil War." Original Illustration by Jenny Wood-Sullivan David became fascinated with the mystery of Henry Ogle while he was a researcher at the Irish Workhouse Centre but it has been a long road to the book lau...

The Irish Workhouse Centre is very proud to have recently hosted a selection of paintings by Killeen native Mary Conroy. The works had been created over the past 12 years and represent the first solo exhibition by the Fine Arts graduate. Mary currently resides in Cork but retains strong ties with her family in Portumna. Indeed, she attended Portumna secondary school long before she attended Crawford College of Art and Design (Cork) where she graduated with a BA in Fine Art in 2008, and a H. Dip in Art Design in 2010. The exhibition vividly showcases Mary's love of nature. Her oil paint depictions of sea splashed rocks show a perfect match of medium and subject. Sparkling light and restless waves brings life to the dark colours of her Irish seascapes. Vibrant watercolours glow with warm, welcoming shades that draw you into their country scenes. Detailed depictions of flowers show a keen botanical eye yet keep a fluid carefree style. This is not the first...

Heritage Week already! It feels like we've only just finished cleaning up craft supplies and tea lights after last year's events when it's time to get ready again.  This year National Heritage Week runs from 17-25 August with events literally in every county. The Irish Workhouse Centre has lots to offer with children's workshops, a Gaeilge Day and loads of free talks.  The theme this year is Pastimes & Past Times, exploring the links between history and hobbies. On Saturday 17th bring the kids to a craft session called 'Communicating in the Past'. The session is on at Portumna workhouse and run by local artist Paula Byrne  (cost 2 euro per child & booking essential).  Let the whole family explore the link between the ancient Irish alphabet called Ogham and Celtic tree-lore. For instance, did you know that we all have a tree linked to our name? Each child will craft their own special book mark to bring home. Start time is 12 o'clo...

The Famine was a seismic event in 19th century Ireland, and is probably the most universally known point in Irish history. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that  historical fiction set in Ireland has been dominated by this event. However,  The Hunger House branches out in a new and widely neglected direction by exploring a different facet of life in 19th century Ireland; the workhouse. We are delighted at the Irish Workhouse Centre to be stocking this inspiring novel by Mayo writer, journalist and artist, Conor McGuire which is already an Amazon No. 1 Bestseller. The novel tells the story of intelligent Bridget Hennigan, who takes up the post of Matron at Ballina workhouse. Her quick mind and professional nature are a challenge to the all male administration which makes up the Board of Guardians. To make matters worse, the resident medical officer Dr Whyte is a nasty piece of work. Bridget realises that only she can stop him but at what price? Conor McGuire...

A group  of Transition Year students, namely  Jessica Madden, Keeva Duffy, Maria Quinn, Cerys Porter, Shauna Fahy and Sean Power, have reached out to Portumna workhouse. As a group they  designed and painted a series of boards for the workhouse infirmary. Here are their own words about the project. "We got inspiration mainly from what life would be like if you lived in a workhouse.  The boards consist of four scenes which are now in the places where the original infirmary doors and windows were missing.  A family entering the workhouse The paintings tell the story of a person's life in the workhouse, from our own perspective. We decided to have a main focus throughout the works; a man in red. He became our main character in the story.  The first board shows him entering the workhouse with his family. We tried to depict the fact  that the family had no other option if they wanted a chance of survival.  Seperation scen...

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 bo...

Mangel Wurzel-a popular vegetable grown in Irish workhouses   For a long time, the 'work' in Irish workhouses was thought to exclude farming. However, recent research shows that many Irish workhouses had farms. Due to irregular or no account keeping, it is hard for us to piece together a picture of what farming was like in a workhouse setting. However, what we can do is look at a snap shot of figures from parliamentary documents.* These documents reveal a surprising fact. Out of the 163 workhouses across Ireland, only 37 had no land under cultivation. Over half of these 37 are from the second wave of building. Workhouse building in Ireland took place in two waves. There were the first 130 which were planned as a complete set to provide relief for 1% of the Irish population. Then the crisis resulting from potato blight led to 33 extra workhouses being hastily built. These were needed due to chronic overcrowding and it seems that acquiring farmland was the least ...

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...