Carrick-on-Shannon Workhouse
Carrick-on-Shannon Workhouse was opened in 1842. It played a large role in the town during the period of the Great Famine.
Interior of a workhouse bed chamber
This is a photograph of the sleeping quarters in a workhouse. The walls were always whitewashed and the floor raised on both sides, this is where the straw was laid for beds.
Interior of a workhouse bed chamber
Interior of a workhouse bed chamber
This is a photograph of the sleeping quarters in a workhouse. The walls were always whitewashed and the floor raised on both sides, this is where the straw was laid for beds.
Its purpose was to accommodate around 800 people who had no homes or money for food. Families were not allowed to live as a single unit and were split up to live in different quarters. Parents were allowed to see their children only on Sundays.
Famine Strikes
At the Gates of the Workhouse, 1846
This is an engraving that was used in The Illustrated London News in 1846. It shows a crowd of people gathered outside the gates of a workhouse, waiting in the hope that they will be admitted inside.
www.vassun.vassar.eduAt the Gates of the Workhouse, 1846
www.vassun.vassar.edu
www.vassun.vassar.edu
At the Gates of the Workhouse, 1846
This is an engraving that was used in The Illustrated London News in 1846. It shows a crowd of people gathered outside the gates of a workhouse, waiting in the hope that they will be admitted inside.
www.vassun.vassar.edu
Sick and Dying in the Workhouse
This is an engraving that was used in The Illustrated London News in 1846. It shows the interior of a workhouse with the sick and the dying lying on the beds, as the women and children look on.
www.vassun.vassar.eduSick and Dying in the Workhouse
www.vassun.vassar.edu
www.vassun.vassar.edu
Sick and Dying in the Workhouse
This is an engraving that was used in The Illustrated London News in 1846. It shows the interior of a workhouse with the sick and the dying lying on the beds, as the women and children look on.
www.vassun.vassar.eduIn 1846, the potato crop failed completely in Ireland and most of the country was plunged into famine. By the November of that year there were 110 people waiting to get into the workhouse in Carrick-on-Shannon. However, there were only 30 places available as the workhouse was already filled beyond capacity.
Conditions in the workhouse were inadequate, with no proper sanitation facilities and insufficient food and clothing supplies. Many died from typhus and dysentery, diseases that are caused by poor hygiene and overcrowding.
The Great Famine was the main reason so many took refuge in the workhouses and so many died. However, in the case of Carrick-on-Shannon Workhouse, corruption and indifference on the part of those in authority led to more deaths than necessary. The situation was investigated by the House of Lords, which had the Board of Guardians of the workhouse dismissed.
After the Famine was over, the workhouse remained in existence until the 1930s.
Workhouse in Carrick-on-Shannon present day
Photograph of St. Patrick's Day Centre and Hospital Carrick-on-Shannon, formerly the Workhouse
Leitrim County LibraryWorkhouse in Carrick-on-Shannon present day
Leitrim County Library
Leitrim County Library
Workhouse in Carrick-on-Shannon present day
Photograph of St. Patrick's Day Centre and Hospital Carrick-on-Shannon, formerly the Workhouse
Leitrim County LibraryThe Workhouse Today
Carrick-on-Shannon Workhouse was taken over and is still in use today as St. Patrick's Community Hospital. At its rear is a disused graveyard, in which hundreds of Famine victims were buried in unmarked graves.
A memorial garden to those who died in the Famine has been created in the grounds of the hospital.