Athy Workhouse Minute Book 1892/'93

Images of Charles Dickens’s characters came to mind as I studied the Minute Book of 1892/’93 in which the Master of Athy’s Workhouse recorded the decisions of the Board of Guardians and his reports of the day to day running of the Workhouse. The Athy Union Workhouse catered for Athy town, Castledermot, Ballyshannon, Monasterevin, Stradbally, Ballylinan and all areas in between. The Union area had a population in 1881 of 27,961 and on 15th October 1892 the Workhouse had as inmates 96 men, 100 women and 29 children. A separate heading in the Minute Book showed 88 persons under medical treatment in the Workhouse Hospital and 1 person in the Fever Hospital which was a separate building [now housing the Galilee House of Studies] which was also under the control of the Board of Guardians. Under the heading ‘Lunatics and Idiots’, 7 inmates were recorded as living in separate wards from other inmates. A total of 32 ‘night lodgers or casuals’ as they were described, were accommodated during the week, with 12 casuals comprising 7 men, 3 women and 2 children in the Workhouse on the date that the Master made his weekly return. Given the recent report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission I was particularly interested to see what the Minute Book recorded about women and children in the Workhouse. The first reference I found was the Master’s report on five children whose continuing presence in the Workhouse was questioned by the Board of Guardians. He reported that on 12th July 1892 twins were admitted to the Workhouse with their mother who died soon afterwards. As to two other illegitimate children, one of them was hired out of the Workhouse but was obliged to return due to sickness and in the meantime the mother left the Workhouse. Another child had since left ‘after her mother claimed her at harvest time’. Bridget Roberts, an inmate of the Workhouse, sought the Board’s approval for some clothes for her child who was also in the Workhouse. Strangely her application was refused. The action of the Board contrasted with two acts of generosity noted in the Minute Book. Local man F.J. Minchin gifted three pounds and ten shillings to provide ‘a treat for the inmates of the Workhouse and the infirmary’ while Lord Seaton of Bert, a member of the Board of Guardians, gave two pounds and a quantity of oranges ‘to provide comfort’ for the same inmates. I found reference to the ‘offences and punishment book’, maintained by the Workhouse Master and in which he noted in December 1892 that Bridget Roberts was guilty of cursing and swearing on three occasions following which she was incarcerated in the Workhouse cell on each occasion. This would appear to be the same woman for whose child the Board of Guardians refused clothing. The Board of Guardians directed that she be prosecuted at the local Petty Sessions with Mary Fleming, another inmate, who refused to obey the orders of the Workhouse officers. The local Petty Sessions presided over by men, some of whom were also Board of Guardian members, frequently heard complaints by the Workhouse Master against Workhouse inmates, but especially those referred to as casuals or night lodgers. On 25th January 1893 twelve casuals were each sentenced to 14 days hard labour, and a week later 3 casuals appeared before the local magistrates. Two were sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. Inmates who refused to work as directed by the Workhouse Master were also prosecuted. One such prosecution involved inmate Patrick Hackett who was described as ‘an able-bodied man’. Hackett apparently not only refused to work, but had also assaulted the Master of the Workhouse. He was sentenced to three month’s imprisonment. The Local Government Board was in the meantime pressing the Athy Union to take action in relation to children who were in the Workhouse without their parents. The Minute Book records payments made to several named women for ‘nurse children’, indicating that young children were fostered out by the Workhouse, at what age and for how long the records do not state. There was a form of contract entered into with the nursing mothers, as I find a reference to a Local Government Board letter which claimed that ‘the agreement used in Athy Workhouse for orphans and deserted children was not in accordance with the prescribed regulations’. An interesting entry in the Minute Books refers to the P.P. of Moone, Rev. Edward Dukay who wrote to the Board of Guardians recommending that ‘the child Doody be given out to nurse to Edward Timoney of Ballitore’. The Board agreed to do so. The Workhouse children attended the Workhouse school where the school mistress was Miss Conroy. During the latter part of 1893 Miss Conroy was absent for an extended period due to illness. The Reverend Mother of the local Sisters of Mercy offered to make a nun available to give ‘religious and industrial instruction’ for two or three hours every day. At the same time she regretted that ‘owing to want of accommodation in the Workhouse convent she could not place a sister in temporary charge of the Workhouse school.’ The Board of Guardians later agreed to provide the necessary accommodation. In May 1893 the District School Inspector visited the Workhouse School in Athy and reported: ‘I visited for the purposes of examining the pupils for results, ….. 23 pupils were present, 15 boys and 8 girls ….. On the occasion of my visit there was no timetable, none of the Commissioners rules or regulations, no pupil’s programme, in fact the school seemed utterly devoid of any furnishings that would indicate that it was a National School except the desks.’ The last entries in the Minute Book for the week ended 4th May 1893 shows that there were 39 children in Athy’s Workhouse, of whom 7 were under 2 years of age, with 10 children between 2 and 5 years.