Strabane's Union Workhouse 1841 to 1930 v1

trabane’s Union Workhouse 1841 - 1930
The 1836 Royal Commission, was actually aimed at helping the Irish poor, however the comission stated it brought "filth, neglect, confusion, discomfort and insalubrity".

The Irish Poor Law of 1838 introduced a relief system for the poor, sick and destitute. Before the Great Famine (1845-1852), workhouses generally remained three-quarters empty despite the fact there were an estimated 2.4 million Irish living in a state of poverty.

The term “pauper” was applied to a recipient of Poor Law relief, they were often known as “inmates” once a resident of a workhouse. By 1847 Ireland's workhouses were bursting at the seams with a nationwide average weekly number of 83,283 inmates.

Ireland was divided into 130 Poor Law Unions, with a workhouse established in each. Families were separated and given a cold bath to de-louse them. Men, women and children were confined to their own dormitories. During the day, they followed a strict regime and were expected to perform manual labour.

Tasks included breaking stones, working in the laundry, digging trenches, cooking, scrubbing floors, picking beaten or unbeaten oakum, a heavy used rope covered in tar, cut up into 2 foot lengths that was beaten with a hammer to remove the tar, the inmates unpicked the strands right down to teasing out the original hemp fibres. This was sold to the shipyard and used to seal the gaps between the ships planks, hence the term “money for old rope”.
Children were educated and taught a trade. Boys learned shoe making and tailoring, while girls were taught embroidery and cooking.

Prior to the famine, Strabane was a bustling market town of over 5000 people, connected to the Foyle by a canal and by the mid-1800s to neighbouring towns by rail like Derry, Newtownstewart, Omagh & Enniskillen.

The Strabane Poor Law Union was officially declared on 6 April 1839 and covered an area of 209 mi2 (541 km2).
The Strabane Union Workhouse was originally planned to be built at Magirr in the Bridge Street area of the town, on land owned by James Hamilton (b.1811 d.1885), Marquis of Abercorn. This site was rejected as unsuitable so the workhouse was planned to be built on a 5-acre site to the North of Strabane, on the east side of the Derry Road.
It was designed by the Poor Law Commisioner’s archetect George Wilkinson (b.1814 d.1890). The building was based on one of his standard plans to accomidate a maximum capacity of 800 inmates. An entrance and administrative block at the west contained porter’s room and waiting room at the centre with Guardians’ board room on the first floor above. Extensions were later added at each side to provide childrens accomidation and school rooms.

The main accommodation block had a Master’s Quarters at the centre, with male and female wings at each side. At the rear, a range of single-story utility rooms such as bake house and washrooms connected through to the infimary and idiots wards via a central spine containing a chapel and dining-hall. A burial ground was located to the north-east.
The Commissioners in Dublin had given Wilkinson instructions to design “a series of plans of different capacities, capable of holding from 330 to 1,300 inmates”.

The Commissioners selected Wilkinson because he had already erected workhouses in Wales, which they believed were similar to the environment in Ireland, and also because his building costs were considerably less than the buildings in England (at least in theory).
Despite the Irish workhouse being larger, compared to England, Wilkinson initially achieved savings of one third from the English buildings, a principal policy of the Poor Law. Expenditure was reduced by a lower standard of accommodation in Ireland, for example, his plans called for earthen floors instead of timber, considered suitable especially for the Irish inmates because, “both in point of economy and in being better adapted to their habits, most of whom did not have shoes and stockings, and were accustomed to floors of common earth”.
Wilkinson also introduced his own cost-saving, sleeping platforms instead of bedsteads in the dormitories, white-washed internal walls instead of plastered, bare rafters instead of ceilings.

The Strabane construction was carried out by Messers Patterson & Catcheside at a cost of £6,885, plus £1,355 for fittings etc, totaling £8,240. It was delcared fit for the reception of paupers on 18 November 1841 and admitted its first inmates the same day.

It’s operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 25 in number. The board also included 5 ex-officio Guardians, making a total of 30. The Guardians met each week on a Tuesday.