Outdoor Relief

Initially the relief provided under the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, was only to take the form of indoor relief administered in the workhouse. However the onset of the famine and the increased numbers of people seeking poor relief placed too great a strain on the workhouses. As a result the Irish Poor Law extension Act of 1847 was introduced.

This allowed for the introduction of outdoor relief to the aged, sick, infirm, and widows with two or more legitimate children, as well as relief in the form of food provided by soup kitchens to the able-bodied for a limited period. Outdoor relief, as the name suggests, was the title given to a form of relief that was administered to those not resident in the workhouse. This type of relief was subject to the ¼ acre or Gregory Clause, whereby people who owned more than ¼ of an acre of land were disqualified from application.

Outdoor Relief Register (extract 3) The outdoor relief registers contain details such as the name of the individual, the electoral division they came from, their employment, gender, age, religion and the date the relief was granted. The people who received outdoor relief in Milford had a variety of employment backgrounds including weaver, rag man, labourer, dressmaker and blacksmith, while many people were simply referred to as mendicants.

These images are extracts from the Outdoor Relief Register of Milford Union, which covered the dates 23 December 1847 to 2 September 1899. (BG/119/3/3)

Click here to view a transcribed version of these images.