Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians

The Poor Law was introduced to Ireland in 1838 to provide relief for the poor. The country was divided into unions, each with a workhouse, run by a board of guardians. Donegal had eight unions, Ballyshannon, Donegal, Dunfanagh, Glenties, Inishowen, Letterkenny, Milford and Stranorlar. Parts of county Donegal were also in the Derry and Strabane unions.

The workhouses provided a home for the destitute poor, who had nowhere else to go. A master and a matron were in charge of running the workhouses. Porters and nurses also worked there, as well as schoolteachers who taught classes and supervised the children.

The workhouses were very unpopular, as life for inmates was quite harsh and the rules of the workhouse were very strict. No one was allowed to leave the workhouse without the permission of the master and inmates were punished for breaking the rules. Families were split up upon entering and children only saw their parents once a day. Everyone had to work, except the very sick and elderly. Meals in the workhouse were very basic, made up mostly of bread, porridge and potatoes. Only in the 20th century did the diet improve allowing the inmates a few luxuries such as tea and sugar and occasionally meat. The workhouses ran until 1923. Some of the buildings were converted to County Homes or Hospitals and are still in use today.

Potato Famine

Ireland in the 19th century was heavily dependent on potatoes. Most of the population of 8 million lived in rural areas on very small farms, which were rented from larger farmers and landlords.

In 1845 a third of the potato crop was destroyed by blight, which quickly spread, causing the crop to fail entirely in 1946. This meant that poor people were left with nothing to eat and many were evicted from their homes for not paying the rent. Emigration or entering the workhouse was the only option left to a lot of people This led to huge overcrowding in the workhouses and the spread of diseases such as dysentery and typhus. The boards of guardians provided help to people outside the workhouse during the famine called 'outdoor relief' in the form of medical and food aid.

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