Emigration

Emigration had been encouraged by a succession of British governments as a way of reducing the number of destitute persons and the demands they could place on the poor rate. Since the 1838 Irish Poor Law Act, Unions had been empowered to spend up to one shilling in the pound (i.e. five per cent) of the poor rate to 'assist poor persons who would otherwise have to be accommodated in the workhouse' in emigrating. This was primarily to the British colonies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The scheme was extended in 1848 to include other non-colonial countries such as America. In the ten years from 1845, a total of two million emigrated from Ireland.

Emigration was often encouraged by landlords who saw it as a way of clearing their land of unwanted tenants, and also reducing the poor rates to which they contributed. In some cases, estate owners chartered their own ships for the transport of emigrants.

The Workhouse in Ireland

The new Nenagh Union workhouse was erected on seven acres half a mile to the south of Nenagh. The building was based on one of the standard plans to accommodate 1,000 inmates. Its construction cost £8,320 plus £1,580 for fittings etc. The workhouse was opened for the reception of paupers on 1st December 1841, and received its first admissions on 28th April 1842.

The main accommodation block had the Master's quarters at the center, with male and female wings to each side. At the rear, a range of single-story utility rooms such as bakery and laundry connected through to the infirmary and idiots' wards via a central hallway connecting the chapel and dining-hall.

During the famine in the mid-1840s, sheds and sleeping areas were erected to accommodate an additional 260 inmates. In 1847, a 70-bed fever hospital was erected at the east of the site. 

Inside the workhouses, conditions were steadily getting worse. Stables and washrooms were used as overflow accommodations, and auxiliary workhouse accommodation was being rented to cope with the rising numbers. The finances of many Unions were exhausted and many closed their doors to further admissions. On top of this, diseases such as typhus fever and dysentery were widespread.

The main classes of inmate were 'sturdy beggars', 'disorderly women', the old and infirm, and orphan children. Up to 100 men and 60 women slept in bunk-like beds crammed into the workhouse cellars which were 240 feet (75 metres) long by 17 feet (5 metres) wide. The diet was made up of bread, milk, porridge, gruel, and 'burgoo' which was oatmeal in cold water seasoned with salt and pepper.

The Famine

For many of Ireland's eight million inhabitants, the potato was the staple component of the diet. In the summer of 1845, reports of blight began to appear, first on the continent and then in southern England. By August it had reached Ireland, and a substantial part of that year's crop rapidly became black and inedible.

Official action to relieve the growing food shortages was primarily through the Relief Commission for Ireland, set up by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, in November 1845. The main aims of the Commission were the formation of local fund-raising committees, and the encouraging of landlords to create employment schemes, up to half of whose costs would be borne by the Government. The Board of Works was authorized to instigate new road-building projects from which extra employment would result. The Commission also set up food depots around the country for the storage of "Indian meal" (maize corn imported from America) which local relief committees would be able to resell at cost price should food prices continue to rise. This subsquently happened, and Indian meal was to become a major part of many people's diet for several years.

The summer of 1846 saw the return of the blight and an escalation in the desperation and misery.