Workhouses

The Famine Workhouses.

During the Famine who were evicted us to go to live in the workhouses. Some landlords pai for their teants to emigrae to American, or some other countries. There, in the workhouses, they had to work in order to get food and a place to sleep. The conditions were terrible and very little beds were provided for the huge number of adults and children staying there. In 1845, there were 130 workhouses in Ireland. The workhouses, for many people was the last resort and many people would go there just hoping for a proper burial. Families were torn apart, woman and men lived in different parts of the building, and children were kept away from the adults. Inmates were given two meals a day, oatmeal, then potatoes and buttermilk, these meals had to be eaten in silence. As there was so many people in the workhouses, there was often not enough food to go round and sometimes, the only way to get a meal was to fight for it, which often led to violence. They had many strict rules, including no bad language, alcohol, laziness or disobedience. The jobs included knitting for woman, breaking stones for men and children were given some sort of training. Many diseases spread, inculding typhus, relasping fever, scurvy and Asiatic cholera.