AN EDITION of a rare manuscript with details of almost 3,000 people who were admitted to workhouses in the 18th century has been published in Limerick.
It is the only known admission register of its kind in Ireland and its publication will allow scholars and members of the public to identify a social group whose history up to now has been vague.
Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan last night announced the publication of an edition of the register of the Limerick House of Industry for the period 1774-1793.
The publication preserves in print an important manuscript register containing the names, age, sex, place of origin, religion, medical condition and admission and discharge details of 2,747 inmates who were admitted to the Limerick House of Industry, or workhouse, between 1774 and 1793. The book has been edited by historians Dr David Fleming and Dr John Logan of the University of Limerick and was published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission.
The register provides evidence of how individuals from Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Cork and other adjacent places coped with poverty, infirmity and physical and psychiatric illnesses.
Dr Fleming described what admission to the house meant for those represented in the book.
“This often meant the severing of personal ties, a loss of intimacy and many had to suffer criticism of a wayward life. On the other hand an inmate had the opportunity to avail of the sociability that living at close quarters brought, and for as long as a pauper remained in the house, there was the guarantee of shelter, food, clothing and, when ill, the attention of a physician or surgeon,” Dr Fleming said.