Lismore Workhouse
Co. Waterford.

Documenting our Heritage

In 1833 the problem of poverty in Ireland was examined by the Whatley Commission and in 1838 the Poor Law was introduced. The country was divided into poor law unions, each of which had a Workhouse run by elected guardians. These guardians were supervised by the Poor Law Commissioners and after 1872, the Local Government Board.

In 1839 construction of the Lismore Workhouse began on a four-acre site provided by the Duke of Devonshire from Lismore Castle. The design of the Workhouse was by the Poor Law Commissioners' architect George Wilkinson, and was based on his standard plan to accommodate 500 inmates.  Cost of construction was put at £5,500 with an additional £1,000 for fitting out. On the 18th May 1842 the Workhouse opened its doors to the paupers of County Waterford.

In 1846 the number of inmates is recorded as 180 and by March 1847, with the Great Famine taking its toll, the number of inmates had increased to over 600. By May 1847 hundreds of starving, rag clothed people were queuing daily for a ration of bread. A report printed in the Cork Examiner on the 3rd May 1847 describes a pit being dug in the pauper graveyard where forty bodies of those who had died from starvation and disease were regularly interred each week. The Guardians of the Workhouse took the step of leasing Father Fogarty's barn to ease congestion inside the workhouse, this barn was operated as a fever hospital.

By 1852 the population of Ireland had been decimated by the famine; one million people had died and a further one million people had emigrated.

In 1863 a Turkish bath was constructed at the Workhouse. A report made by the Fermoy Medical Officer on 2 March 1863 describes this bath as of two rooms with the first room heated to 120'F 'appearing to work satisfactorily' and a second room just a few degrees above the temperature of the outside air. The Medical Officer considered the bath to be a success: 'all the inmates, with the exception of the extremely old and infirm, take it weekly with benefit, and in no instance has its use been attended with injurious consequences.' In March 1892, a Mr Stokes is recorded as being paid 18/- per quarter for keeping the bath in order.

The Workhouse remained in operation into the 20th century.

The 1901 census records Frederick William Flood as the Master of the Workhouse. Mr Flood lived in the Masters quarters with his wife Mary Francis and their daughter, Dorothy, and their son, Frederick. The Workhouse staff based on site was: Anastasia Keane, age 40, Matron; Catherine Keane, age 46, Nurse; Julia Delaney, age 40, Nurse; Margaret Feely, age 40, Nurse; Helena Keane, age 50, Night Nurse; Lizzie Murray, age 38, School Teacher; William Daly, age 30, Porter; Kate Stack, age 35, Assistant Nurse; John Leahy, age 52, Attendant Male Lunsties; Michael Fitzgerald, age 55, Workhouse Van Driver; Mary Lennon, age 60, Attendant Female Lunsties; Kate Daly, age 22, Trained Nurse.

In 1901 the Return of Paupers in Workhouses records 168 inmates housed in the Workhouse, each inmate is identified only by the first letter of their forename and surname. They include Labourers, Scholars, Servants, Seamstress, Tailors, Butchers, Blacksmiths etc

The 1911 Return of Paupers in Workhouses records 129 inmates with a further 24 inmates listed as being a Lunatic or Idiot.

In 1923 the Duke of Devonshire sold the Workhouse to Lismore Rural District Council for £550.

The workhouse later became St Carthages Hospital. When the hospital closed the premises were used for fire-brigade training. The Workhouse Masters quarters and administration building are currently being refurbished as residential accommodation. The remaining workhouse buildings are abandoned and derelict.

This article is the copyright of Tarquin Blake, Abandoned Ireland, and may not be reproduced in any form without permission.