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...