Olwen Purdue
28 February 2008
Welfare in Ireland – the North
Unions for study
These were selected on the following grounds:
1. Access to sources: this had to be a consideration in deciding which northern unions
to study as the material available varied widely from one union to another.
2. The religious, social and economic make-up of the various unions: this should allow
meaningful comparison to be made both between the northern unions and between
these and the rest of Ireland.
 Ballymoney - relatively affluent, largely rural with much good farming land,
centred round a busy market town; population predominantly Presbyterian, much
smaller number of Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic families; strong
tradition of liberal politics; central position with good infrastructure and easy
access to ports etc
 Ballycastle – also situated in north Antrim but much less affluent, consisting of
the poor upland areas of the Glens of Antrim; population has much higher
proportion of Roman Catholics; isolated and remote.
 Clogher – strongly rural union with a fairly even denominational make-up;
Protestants largely Church of Ireland; some good farming land in Clogher valley
but also much poorer land and smaller holdings in the higher regions.
 Belfast – large city which grew rapidly in the period under study; initially
dominated by middle-class Presbyterian merchant class with much political
influence; high levels of migration into city from all over north led to a boom in
population, the creation of areas characterised by single religious denominations
and, in turn, to perennial sectarian rioting; very large numbers entering
workhouse as well as active charitable societies.
1
Ballymoney Union
Sources
1. PRONI:
Board of Guardian Minute books
Outdoor relief registers
Indoor registers
Out letter books
Letters from LGB and PLC
In letters
1840-1948
1847-1948
1843-1939
1899-1939
1899-1905
1900-1926
2. Newspapers – these are held on Microfilm in Coleraine public library. They contain
sometimes detailed accounts of Board of Guardian meetings and can add colour and
detail to the rather dry accounts found in the minute books.
3. Ballymoney Museum – this houses several unsorted boxes of workhouse and Poor
Law Union papers. The curator has been very helpful in giving me free access to the
material as well as a large amount of desk space over the past few months. Relevant
material includes:
Detailed half-yearly statistics of paupers relieved 1843–1903
Workhouse accounts 1845-1900
Bonds of appointments for workhouse officials and staff
Orders from Local Government Board
Variety of printed material relating to the establishment of the workhouse
2
Key issues arising from study
1. Poor Law Guardians
The fact that Ballymoney was traditionally at the centre of northern liberal politics was
reflected in the changing composition of the Board of Guardians
 while most poor law unions saw a sharp decline in the number of landed office
bearers over the period in question, this decline was particularly rapid in
Ballymoney. In 1861 and 1871 two out of the three offices were held by those with
a landed interest; from 1881 onwards, no landed guardians were elected to office.
Throughout the period in study there are several occasions when landed figures
such as James Moore would find themselves in opposition to the vast majority of
the guardians, most of whom are local businessmen; they are nearly always easily
overruled.
 From the 1890s onwards, female guardians took an increasingly active role in the
running of the Poor Law Union. By 1910, while most northern unions were
exclusively male, two out of Ballymoney’s three office bearers were female. Miss
Hamilton, sister to a local dignitary, was particularly active and frequently chaired
meetings in the absence of the elected chairman.
2. Outdoor relief
 this was granted sparingly, the numbers of those relieved annually only getting into
double figures in 1860.
 largely given to the elderly and infirm
 applications for outdoor relief were on occasions turned down on moral grounds
 rarely granted twice to the same individual – only two cases in any of the sample
years
 the numbers entered in the registers are significantly smaller than the number given
in government statistics; most outdoor was, therefore, provisional relief or one-off
payments by Relieving Officer
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3. Indoor relief
This has been the most informative aspect of the study, revealing a number of
significant patterns in the way in which the workhouse was used and social/cultural
differences in attitudes towards it.
Religious denomination and social attitudes: One of the most interesting issues to
come out of the indoor registers is the very small proportion of Presbyterians that used
the workhouse. As the table below shows, over two thirds of the population of the
parish of Ballymoney was Presbyterian, probably a fairly accurate reflection of the
denominational break-down of the Union as a whole. However, in each of the years
shown, less than a quarter of those admitted to the workhouse were Presbyterian. In
1881, a year of particular hardship, only 16% of the 1,627 individuals admitted to the
workhouse were Presbyterian
Table 1: Presbyterians in Ballymoney parish compared to Presbyterians admitted to
workhouse
Year
1871
Presbyterians in
Ballymoney parish (%
total population)
68
Presbyterians admitted to
workhouse (% total
admissions)
23
1881
67
16
1891
64
18
Fig 1: Chart showing the numbers of each denomination admitted to Ballymoney
workhouse 1851-1911
Religious denominations in Ballymoney workhouse 1851-1911
900
800
Numbers
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
1911
Year
Roman Catholic
Church of Ireland
4
Presbyterian
Unknown/other
Why did more Presbyterians not use the workhouse?

There was less destitution among the Presbyterian population? It is generally the
case in Ulster that the more affluent farmers and businessmen tend to be
Presbyterian; outside of the landowning class, Church of Ireland membership
tended to comprise larger proportions of the labouring classes while Roman
Catholics generally continued to own the less fertile farming land. However, the
discrepancy is too great to be explained simply in economic terms.

There were alternative means of support for Presbyterians? There is little
evidence of this: the only charitable society which seems to have existed was
the Ballymoney Mendicity Association, established in 1848 when a Mr Neal
Kennedy left £1,000 for the relief of the poor of Ballymoney parish. This was,
however, to be given on an equal basis to Presbyterians and to members of the
Church of Ireland. The churches, themselves, offered relief to destitute families
but this was confined to members of congregations rather than the ‘Presbyterian’
population as a whole.

There was a particularly strong aversion among northern Presbyterians to the
concept of poor relief for whom the workhouse appears to have been used only as
an absolute last resort. From 1861 onwards, the proportion of sick or infirm
Presbyterians admitted was consistently greater than that of the other
denominational groups, again suggesting that entry to the workhouse was more of
an act of desperation for Presbyterians than for others (fig 2).
Fig 2: Chart showing the percentage of each denomination admitted who were ill,
disabled or in some way infirm 1851-1911
Percentages of each denomination who were ill/disabled 1851-1911
70
Percentage
60
50
Presbyterians
40
C of I
30
Roman Catholics
20
10
0
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
year
5
1901
1911
Changing use of the workhouse: over the period in question, the function of
Ballymoney workhouse seems to have changed dramatically. Whereas in 1851, it was
largely a place of refuge for the destitute and infirm, by 1911 it had become a one-night
stop-over for ‘casuals’ and those travelling through. This is evident in a number of ways:
 The change in the length of time people remained in the workhouse. In 1851-61
most people remained in the workhouse for at least two months, whereas by 1911,
86% of those admitted stayed for only one or two nights.
Fig 3: Length of time people remained in Ballymoney workhouse 1851
Length of stay 1851
1-2 days
3-13 days
2-8 weeks
2-11 months
1 year +
unknown
Fig 4: Length of time people remained in Ballymoney workhouse 1911
Length of stay 1911
1-2 days
3-13 days
2-8 weeks
2-11 months
1 year +
unknown
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 The age and nature of those admitted. In 1851-61, a large proportion of those
admitted were either children or the elderly and there were many whole families
admitted. From 1871 onwards, an increasing proportion of those who used the
workhouse were young to middle-aged (fig 6), generally single (fig 7) and
generally male (fig 8). They also tended to be skilled labourers
Fig 5: Ages of people admitted to Ballymoney workhouse 1851-1911
1800
1600
1400
number
1200
60+
1000
16-59
800
0-15
600
400
200
0
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
1911
year
Fig 6: Marital status of adults admitted to Ballymoney workhouse 1851-1911
1800
1600
1400
number
1200
unknown
widowed
married
unmarried mother/pregnant
single
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
year
7
1901
1911
Fig 7: Gender of adults aged between 16-59 admitted to Ballymoney workhouse 1851-1911
1400
1200
number
1000
800
female
600
male
400
200
0
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
1911
year
 The increasing emphasis on the health care function of workhouse. From 1901
onwards the minutes of the Boards of Guardians are increasingly concentrated on
issues such as medical treatment, operations and the provision of specialist care.
While many used it as a place of lodging, others increasingly used it as a source of
health care. This is clearly demonstrated by the increase in the proportion of those
of those remained for more than two days who were admitted to the fever hospital
or infirmary (fig 9).
Fig 8: Chart showing the percentage of those admitted to Ballymoney Workhouse for
longer than two days who were suffering from an illness or disability
70
60
percentage
50
40
30
20
10
0
1861
1871
1891
year
8
1911
Practical & administrative
Access to documents
Apart from a few initial difficulties encountered at PRONI regarding photographing of
documents, work to date has gone smoothly. One issue which did cause some initial
delay, however, was that of gaining access to records closed under the hundred year rule
– having applied in writing for permission to view the records, there was a delay of
almost two months before this was finally granted.
Outreach activities
 Contact has been made with Ballymoney museum and free access gained to archival
material held there. In return, I have been able to sort and briefly catalogue their
collection.
 A public meeting has been arranged for October of this year in which I will give a
talk, followed by open discussion. This will be widely publicised both in the local
press and among neighbouring historical societies and will offer a valuable
opportunity to share information and gain the benefit of local knowledge.
 I have been asked to speak at a genealogists’ conference being held in the museum
in 2009 – the value of poor law records from a genealogy perspective.
Issues arising
The collection and recording of data and information on Ballymoney Union took a
total of 6 months, most of which time was spent entering information from indoor
registers into the database. There are three more unions to be completed – Ballycastle,
Clogher and Belfast.
Ballycastle has fewer admissions each year than Ballymoney and therefore the
database will take less time: however, the absence of minute books for the earlier
period will mean a greater amount of time will have to be spent examining alternative
sources such as newspapers.
Clogher should take around the same time as Ballymoney i.e. 5-6 months.
This allows around 6 months to research Belfast Union and to prepare the earlier
material for publication/presentation.
Belfast is so large a union that, if tackled in the same way as the others, it would take
years to complete. It has generally been possible to enter around 80 records in one hour
– taking into account practical limitations, this represents a maximum of 400 records in
a working day. In 1911 there were 24,000 admissions to Belfast workhouse; it would,
therefore, take 3 months to complete this year alone.
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Possible solutions
As the completion of these four unions within the two-year timescale of the project
seems to be impossible, it is necessary to explore ways of resolving the difficulties. As
I see it, there are a number of possible alternatives:
1. Further sample the seven indoor registers for Belfast. It has been suggested that
every tenth entry to the workhouse registers could be recorded. This would greatly
reduce the time spent recording admissions; however, I feel it would have a serious
impact on the integrity of the database and render meaningful analysis nearly
impossible.
2. Instead of recording the seven census years, three could be selected for study – e.g.
1861, 1881 & 1901. This would have the benefit of giving meaningful statistics for the
years in question, each of which seems fairly representative of the broader changes
taking place over the period. The drawback is that we are still dealing with almost
50,000 records or 8 months’ work before we begin looking at any additional material
of which there seems to be an abundant amount
3. Omit one of the other unions from the study. This would allow an extra 4-5 months
for Belfast union. The drawbacks are obvious: each of the other unions is valuable in
its own right – Ballycastle, because it allows for meaningful comparison with another
North Antrim union yet which is very different from it in both religious and economic
terms; and Clogher, because it is representative of the almost totally rural society in the
west of the province.
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