Donaghmore Famine Workhouse Museum, Laois

 Donaghmore in Laois lies roughly 2.5 Kms North east from the village of Rathdowney and is the home of the Donaghmore Famine Workhouse Museum.

I've only ever passed when the museum was closed so I would suggest phoning in advance to check opening times throughout the season.

The Irish Famine, an Gorta Mór (the great hunger) was an entirely avoidable disaster in which a million or more people starved to death while millions more subsequently emigrated or were forced into emigration through land clearances.

 

Many died on their voyage from Ireland aboard what became known as "Coffin Ships" and in a few recorded cases the ships docked with more corpses than living, horrifying even hardened dock workers.

It decimated the Irish population and the Irish language and paved the way for further cultural destruction and the eradication of many aspects of Irish life from which the country to this day has never fully recovered. 

It essentially helped to further anglicize Irish society by wiping out vast numbers of native Irish speakers.

People resorted to eating Grass and Seaweed while cases of cannibalism are thought to have occurred however it is rarely mentioned nor thoroughly investigated. Sometimes it is indeed better to "let sleeping dogs lie".

There were earlier natural famines in Ireland, a particularly destructive one occurring between 1740/41 when a cold spell caused severe shortages of gains and potatoes.

 

At this time Ireland had a much smaller population and as such more of the population by percentage died in this famine than did subsequently during 1845/50 - an Gorta Mór, the great hunger.

The difference between these two famines, 1740/41 - Bliain an Áir (the year of the slaughter) and an Gorta Mór (the great hunger) - 1845/50, is that the latter was totally avoidable.

 

The 1845/50 famine affected only a single crop that had by now become the mainstay of the native Irish diet, Potatoes. 

Food exports of numerous other crops continued throughout the famine. Famine relief was inadequate, badly managed and  implemented through "the Poor Laws" while the Country was divided into "Poor Law unions". 

British government inaction and ignorance bordered on what some might describe as a policy of deliberate extermination of a large section of society. 

More often than not these were people on the lowest rungs of the ladder who had little to offer towards maintaining British Imperial coffers and were perhaps becoming a burden on the landed gentry, landlords and the State as the population grew to over eight million people.

The famine of 1845/50 effectively halved the population of Ireland. The famine ended at different times in different parts of Ireland but can generally be described as lasting until 1850.

Workhouses were a feature of the famine and a place where you went as a last resort. In principle you were fed within these walls which helped keep starvation at bay. 

In practise, men, women and children were separated into different dormitories, expected to endure harsh work, clothed badly and fed terrible food, sometimes having nothing other than thinly made stirabout which was barely fit for consumption.

In fairness to the British government of the day they also had Scottish, Welsh and English "Poor Laws" and an English Workhouse was just as grim a prospect and edifice as any Irish Workhouse. 

There is an Irish expression known as "taking the Soup" and people who took the soup were known as "Soupers". 

This was another aspect of the famine and unrelated to the famine Workhouses. It was not a major aspect of the famine and instances of it may have been subsequently exaggerated.

 A "Souper" or one who is "taking the Soup" is traditionally thought of as a person who has converted to anglicism for food or favour and the term predates an Gorta Mór.

Clergy of all faiths seem to have been particularly disturbed at British inaction in addressing and relieving the famine and they often highlighted the continued exportation of food crops as the population starved or lobbied on behalf of the poor.

Another unrelated aspect of the famine of 1845/50 were famine relief works. Projects were undertaken, sometimes civil construction works and at other times Follys. 

It was thought that to give free food to the poor would only encourage irascibility, rogues and lollabouts. 

Thus in an act of what can only be described as utter stupidity the starving were put to work for their food, many dying from the exertions placed on their already emaciated bodies.

Today there are many fine stone walls found lining the old estates. Many of these were built as "famine relief works" and are also known as "Penny Walls". 

So that sums up this post, Donaghmore, Famines and the Workhouse. I've included what few photographs I have from the site but do go and visit if you get a chance. 

It's on my to-do list.....

“There is not room in the church yards for to bury the dead as they are dying so fast the coffins I may say are on the surface of the earth. . . .”    

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Letter from Hannah Curtis in Queen’s County Ireland to her brother John in Philadelphia 1847