Workhouse

This week we are looking at the effects of the Great Famine on our hometown Kanturk. David wrote about the Workhouses & the decline in our population.

The Workhouses

The main workhouse in Kanturk would have taken up all of  St.Patrick's Place , the Clinic and the Hospital .

It was built in 1841 to accommodate 800 people . (paupers)

In 1845 it held less than 400 people . In 1847 it held 1841 people .That was over 1000 more people than it was intended to hold.  In 1920 it held 181 people .

The present Kanturk Hospital was built in 1927.

Two auxiliary ( temporary ) workhouses were also set up in Kanturk to cope with numbers in need. One was in Bourke's Mill (Newmarket Rd ) . The other one in the Tan Yard ( Part of the Creamery, Strand Street ) .

                                                     Effects of the Famine on Kanturk 

The population of Kanturk Parish in 1841 was 9,000 . By 1851 the population was 6,000 .

Kanturk lost 3,000 people during the famine . That's 1/3 or 331/3% of its population .

Ireland lost 1.6 million people during the famine . That's about 1/5 of the population at the time .

The location and layout of the workhouse are shown on the 1905 map below.
Kanturk workhouse site, 1905.