Children who were orphaned or abandoned and found themselves in the Workhouse were often ‘boarded out’ by the Board of Guardians, and details of what happened to them were recorded in the Board of Guardians Minute Books. Many of those who were boarded out were infants, sent to women who could nurse them. The Board paid a fee to the nurse for their
Read MoreDublin Workhouse Records
The Admission and Discharge Registers for three of the four Dublin Workhouses have just appeared on www.findmypast.ie. The registers are for the North and South Dublin Union and Rathdown Union Workhouse, and date from 1840 to 1919. As many Dublin families are likely to have encountered the Workhouse during their lifetimes these registers are a huge
Read MorePoor Law Union Maps
A recent tweet from a project on welfare and public health in Belfast 1800 – 1973 at Queen’s University Belfast drew my attention to a collection of Poor Law Union Maps and figures for Poor Relief in each union across the entire country from 1851 to 1911. Following the 1838 Poor Relief Act for Ireland, Poor Law Unions were formed. A Poor Law Union
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