The Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict, c. 56) is an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
which created the system of
poor relief in Ireland. The legislation was largely influenced by the
English Poor Law Act 1834.
Following its enactment, one hundred and thirty Poor Law Unions were established throughout the country. Each Union had a workhouse, financed by the payment of rates on landholders in the Union district. The administration of the
Poor Law Unions in Ireland (PLU) was overseen by the Poor Law Commissioners who maintained control by setting up strict accounting and recording systems. Each PLU was managed locally to a board of Guardians who met weekly to oversee the running of the workhouse (indoor) and relief work schemes (outdoor).
The vast bulk of the surviving PLU records comprise Minute and Rate Books.
[‘Guide to the Archives of the Poor Law’, ''The National Archives of Ireland'' (blog), accessed 1 November 2019, https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/guide-archives-poor-law/] To a much lesser degree indoor and outdoor relief registers and records such as death registers and porter’s books survive.
Minute Books contain the records of each weekly meeting of the Board of Guardians. They take account of the finances of the Union, procurement of provisions, hiring of staff, management of inmates and any other issues that may arise as regards the week-to-week running of the
Workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...
. The minute books also record the numbers of inmates in the workhouse, numbers admitted or left in the week as well as distinguishing between sexes, adults and children. They also record numbers of sick inmates and numbers of deaths each week.
Rate Books account for the rates paid by occupiers of property and the nature of the property they occupied
Registers account for persons receiving relief from the Union. Indoor registers list name, age, sex, religion, previous address, condition on entering and date of entry and leaving the workhouse for each individual inmate.
See also
*
Irish Poor Law
The Irish Poor Laws were a series of Acts of Parliament intended to address social instability due to widespread and persistent poverty in Ireland. While some legislation had been introduced by the pre-Union Parliament of Ireland prior to the ...
References
*The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1 & 2 Victoria. 1838. Printed by Her Majesty's Printers. London. 1838. Page
274to 314.
*"Miscellaneous Report: Exemptions from and Remission of Rates" (1968
19Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 235 (June 1968). See also pages 3 and 6.
Irish Poor Laws
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1838
1838 in Ireland
Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Ireland
{{UK-statute-stub