Derry Workhouse

Coordinates: 54°59′42″N 7°18′22″W / 54.995°N 7.306°W / 54.995; -7.306 Derry Workhouse was a workhouse in Derry, Northern Ireland. Located in the Waterside area of the city, the workhouse operated from 1840 to 1948.

History

As a result of the Irish Poor Law Act of 1838, a workhouse with a capacity for 800 people opened in the city on 10 November 1840 and was the first operational workhouse in Ulster. During the Irish Famine (1845-1849) numbers of poverty stricken drastically increased and, like many other workhouses in Ireland at the time, the workhouse experienced severe overcrowding. With the introduction of the National Assistance Act 1948 and the welfare state, the workhouse closed in 1948.^[1]

The buildings later housed the Waterside hospital until 1991,^[2] and after was redeveloped as private housing, with the main dormitory area used as a library and museum.^[3] During the redevelopment, numerous human remains were found. These remains, believed to be of people who died in the mid-nineteenth century, were later interred in the local Ballyoan cemetery.^[1]

References