Manifestations of Institutional Reform and Resistance to Reform in Ulster Workhouses, Ireland, 1838-1855

International Journal of Historical Archaeology, Apr 2017

The new Irish and English poor laws of the nineteenth century were based on ideologies prevalent during the period of Improvement. The workhouse was the central instrument of these new Acts. Through an archival and archaeological methodology, this paper investigates the physical manifestations of the governing ideologies of reform and improvement and the manifestations of resistance to this reform in one type of institution, Ulster’s nineteenth-century workhouses (a province that spans Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). It also reflects on how these once despised institutions are now used, through community efforts, as recreational and “reform” centers.

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Manifestations of Institutional Reform and Resistance to Reform in Ulster Workhouses, Ireland, 1838-1855

Int J Histor Archaeol Manifestations of Institutional Reform and Resistance to Reform in Ulster Workhouses, Ireland, 1838-1855 Liz Thomas 0 0 School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast , Belfast BT7 1NN , Northern Ireland The new Irish and English poor laws of the nineteenth century were based on ideologies prevalent during the period of Improvement. The workhouse was the central instrument of these new Acts. Through an archival and archaeological methodology, this paper investigates the physical manifestations of the governing ideologies of reform and improvement and the manifestations of resistance to this reform in one type of institution, Ulster's nineteenth-century workhouses (a province that spans Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). It also reflects on how these once despised institutions are now used, through community efforts, as recreational and Breform^ centers. Workhouses; Ideologies; Reform; Ireland Introduction The Ideology of Improvement had impacted on Ball spheres^ of society, including implementing modern agricultural techniques, industrial advancement, landscape design and civic Improvement (through the construction of model villages and new rural housing) and ultimately, the reformation of the poor by the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century (Tarlow 2007) . At this time in England and Ireland, Improvement Bmeant both profit and moral benefit^ (Tarlow 2007: 13) . In 1838, the Poor Law Act (BAn Act for the more effectual relief of the destitute poor in Ireland,^ 1 & 2 Vic., c. 56) was passed and proved to have the most conservative measures of any poor law act in England, Wales, and Scotland because ultimately, in Ireland poverty relief was only allowed when the recipient resided within the workhouse. The policy of the Workhouse Test (only residents of the workhouse could receive relief) embraced the Btest of less eligibility^ (conditions within the workhouse, where residents received relief, were inferior to the conditions obtained through labour by the lowest class of worker). The policies of the nineteenth - century poor laws enacted in Ireland (1838) and Britain (1834) were based on the ideologies of Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, and Thomas Malthus, who were undoubtedly influenced by the ideology of Improvement. The main objective of the 1838 Poor Law Act (Ireland) was to remove pauperism and simultaneously relieve destitution and improve the BIrish character^ through the introduction of a universal workhouse system: The workhouses built in Ireland under this new act were specifically designed as a visual reminder to reform both those resident and not resident in the workhouses. BThe very sight of a well-built efficient establishment would give confidence to the Board of Guardians; the sight and weekly assemblage of all servants of their Union would make them proud of their office: the appointment of a chaplain would give dignity to the whole arrangement, while the pauper would feel it utterly impossible to contend against it^ (Head in Jackman 1958: 63) . By 1842 Ireland was divided into 130 Poor Law Unions, and a workhouse was to be built central to each of these. The Unions were to be based as in England, on a market town, Bequally distributed over the country,^ equal in size and with a ten-mile radius. The Poor Law Commissioners (Commissioners) favored larger Unions as they believed that these were more economical and they tried to observe the preexisting local boundaries, so as to make the Unions as Bcompact and complete as possible^ (Fifth Annual Poor Law Report 1839: 23–25). Forty-three of these Unions were created in the province of Ulster. By 1846 the 130 workhouses, one for each Union, were erected, just in time to meet the Great Famine. However, the impact of the Great Famine made the Commissioners resolve that further Unions and workhouses were required due to severe overcrowding and mortality. Between 1847 and 1855 a further 33 new Unions and workhouses were established across Ireland. Only one of these second-phase workhouses, the Bawnboy Union, was constructed in Ulster. There has been extensive research on the Poor Law Act in Ireland, ranging from broad historical and economical accounts (Crowley et al. 2012; Gray 2009; Purdue 2011) to local historical studies on several workhouses across Ireland and Britain (Crawford 2004; Crossman 2003; Lucas 1999; O’Mahony 2008; Scannell 2006) . Historical archaeologists have established that institutional buildings reflect ideologies, and identified the ritual and symbolic use of space (De Cunzo 1995, 2001; Lucas 1999; McKee 1992; Piddock 2001, 2007) . Various studies have used archaeological and historical resources to uncover a landscape of power relations and power dynamics that existed across and within institutions (Baugher 2001, 2010; Casella 2000, 2001; Spencer-Wood 2010) . This paper will address, using archaeological and archival methods, how ideologies of refor (...truncated)


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Liz Thomas. Manifestations of Institutional Reform and Resistance to Reform in Ulster Workhouses, Ireland, 1838-1855, International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2017, pp. 867-900, Volume 21, Issue 4, DOI: 10.1007/s10761-017-0401-x