Carlow Union Workhouse was located on the Kilkenny road, Carlow, Ireland. Built 1842-44 it was demolished in the 1970’s to make way for new buildings for Carlow Vocational School and Carlow Institute of Technology. In common with towns and cities throughout Great Britain and Ireland workhouses were established in Carlow town and Kilkenny city in the early 1840’s. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 established workhouses in England and Wales. The Act, with modifications was introduced in Ireland in 1838 ‘for the more effectual Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland’.

Workhouses had existed throughout Great Britain and Ireland prior to 1834 but on a much smaller scale and in a less organised manner. In 1837 George Nicholls was sent to Ireland to see how the British system could be made to work in Ireland. He spent just six weeks in Ireland visiting towns and cities throughout the country including Carlow and Kilkenny. Daniel O’Connell was derisory about the survey carried out by Nicholls and said ‘He calculated everything and was accurate in nothing.’ The recommendations of Nicholls were accepted by the government in London. Despite vigorous opposition from Irish MPs, of all shades of opinion, the bill introducing the workhouse system to Ireland was passed on July 31st 1838.

Work on building the workhouses began immediately and 123 had been built by 1845. However by 1846 the workhouses that were open were only half full. This was because of difficulties in collecting the money from the rate payers to run the system and the reluctance of people to enter the harsh environment of the workhouse. In order to deter people who were poor but able bodied, conditions for those who did enter the workhouse were often miserable. Conditions for people inside the workhouse could never to be better than those enjoyed by people on the outside.

Men and women had separate accommodation, which divided families. Sleeping areas were cramped, beds were uncomfortable and ventilation and sanitation were poor. Diet was poor and inmates, though often malnourished and in poor health, had to work. Women generally did the domestic work and men were usually involved in growing vegetables or breaking stones. Each workhouse did have schools for boys and girls and some medical assistance was provided.

Overcrowding, hunger and disease, particularly during and after the famine led to a very high mortality rate among the inmates. The workhouse system with some modifications continued in operation in Ireland up to 1923. Some were destroyed during the war of independence or as in the case of Carlow were occupied by the military and later by the County Council. Others became homes for the elderly and a few became local hospitals.

Carlow Union Workhouse was completed and declared fit for reception of inmates in the year 1844 On This Day.

Photo by Alan Stanton

Workhouse Uniform for boys by Alan Stanton on 2012-01-22 15:08:01

Photo courtesy Joe Rattigan

Muintir na Tíre (National Association for the Promotion of Community Development) is an Irish national organisation. It was established in 1937 to promote community development in Ireland. Since its foundation Muintir na Tíre has continually evolved to meet the changing needs of Irish society.

Muintir na Tíre was founded by Canon Hayes the Parish priest of Bansha, Co Tipperary. A native of Limerick, Hayes was appointed Parish Priest of Bansha in 1946. His parish became a model for neighbourliness, self-help and self-sufficiency, the principles of Muintir na Tíre.

The organisation promoted initiatives such as rural electrification and building of Community Halls and Centres throughout the country. During the decades following its establishment Muintir na Tíre has been involved in the development of initiatives such as Tidy Towns’ competition, Citizens Information Centres, Rural Group Water Schemes and Community Alert.

The founder of Muintir na Tíre, John M Canon Hayes, was born in the year 1887 On This Day.

Photo by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

August 7, 1945 by National Library of Ireland on The Commons on 1945-08-07 12:03:13

Kenmare,Ireland

Photo by kthypryn

Oliver Goldsmith is one of Ireland’s most famous writers. He wrote essays, poems, novels and plays. Some of the most famous of these include, The Deserted Village, The Vicar of Wakefield and She Stoops to Conquer. His friend, the English writer Samuel Johnson, wrote of him that he ‘left scarcely any kind of writing untouched and who touched nothing that he did not adorn’.

Oliver Goldsmith was born in November 1728. His place of birth is given as Pallas Ballymahon Co Longford but he may have been born near Elphin Co Roscommon. When he was two years old his father was appointed to the parish of Kilkenny West, Co Westmeath and the family moved to live at Lissoy between Ballymahon and Athlone. He contracted smallpox at the age of nine which caused facial disfigurement for the rest of his life. Goldsmith was educated at the diocesan school at Elphin, Co Roscommon and later in Edgeworthstown Co Longford. He entered Trinity College Dublin at age 16 in 1744 where he was a contemporary of Edmund Burke.

Goldsmith was not a diligent student. He liked to play cards, sing Irish songs and he learned to play the flute. He was involved in a riot in 1747 for which he was admonished and disciplined by the college authorities. He graduated with a BA degree in 1749. After college he lived with his mother until 1752. He then enrolled in the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. Goldsmith left Edinburgh in 1755 without qualifying as a doctor. He went on a walking tour of Europe. While in Europe he survived by teaching English and playing the flute.

In 1756 Goldsmith moved to London where his writings began to attract attention. During the next fourteen years, though he made a lucrative living from writing, he was frequently in debt because of his gambling and generosity. Some of his writings drew on his life experiences. One of his first works ‘The Traveller’, recalls some of his travels through Europe. His poem ‘The Deserted Village’ recalls the destruction a village and way of life, by wealthy landowners in Co Longford.

Goldsmith died after a short illness at the age of 45 on April 4^th 1744. There is a statue of him in the grounds of Trinity College Dublin and also in Ballymahon Co Longford. Goldsmith Hall in Trinity College and the library in Athlone Institute of Technology have been named after him.

Oliver Goldsmith, one of Ireland’s most famous writers, was born in the year 1728 On This Day.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH [TRINITY COLLEGE] REF-10858520 by infomatique on 2015-10-01 09:04:38

Role Model by Celestine Chua on 2013-09-27 19:42:17

The painting ‘Towards the Night and Winter’ by Carlow artist Frank O’Meara hangs in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. The gallery, which is officially known as Dublin City Gallery-The Hugh Lane, is located at Charelmont House, Parnell Square, Dublin. It is a public gallery of modern and contemporary art operated by Dublin City Council. The gallery was founded by Sir Hugh Lane in 1908 and was originally located on Harcourt Street, Dublin.

Hugh Percy Lane was born in Cork in 1875 but moved to Cornwall, England at a young age where he grew up. He regularly visited his aunt, Lady Augusta Gregory, at her home at Coole Park near Gort in County Galway. At Coole he met many of those involved in Ireland’s cultural and literary revival. Lane was interested in art. In 1893 Lady Gregory helped him to get an apprenticeship as a painting restorer with London art dealers Martin Colnaghi. He became an expert on impressionist painting. He eventually became a wealthy art dealer with his own premises at 2 Pall Mall Place in London. He also served as director of London’s National Gallery.

Lane continued to visit Ireland. He became one of the leaders of the Irish cultural revival and promoted Irish art abroad. He began a campaign to establish a gallery of modern art in Dublin in 1901. In 1904 he organised a very successful exhibition of contemporary Irish art at London’s Guildhall. It was the first such exhibition of Irish art ever to be held abroad. Lane persuaded Irish artists to donate work to form the nucleus of collection to open a gallery in Dublin. He personally financed the acquisition of other masterpieces to enhance the collection. The Municipal Gallery of Modern art opened in Dublin in January 1908 and Hugh Lane was awarded the freedom of the City of Dublin. In 1909 he was honoured with a knighthood by King Edward VII for his services to Irish Art. He became a director of the National Gallery of Ireland in 1914 and donated his salary for the purchase of paintings.

In April 1915 Sir Hugh Lane sailed from Liverpool to New York aboard the RMS Lusitania. In America he sold some paintings such as Titian’s Man in the Red Cap. He is reported to have bought several paintings by famous artists such as Monet. On the return journey from America the Lusitania was hit by a torpedo. It was fired by the German submarine U-20 on May 7th 1915. The ship sank off the Old Head of Kinsale not far from where Lane was born. His body and the paintings he is reported to have purchased in New York were never recovered. His personal collection of 39 paintings became the subject of a dispute between Dublin and London which was not resolved until 1959.

Sir Hugh Lane, founder of the Dublin City Gallery-The Hugh Lane, was born in Cork in the year 1875 On This Day.

Photo by Internet Archive Book Images

Image from page 95 of “Herself–Ireland” (1918) by Internet Archive Book Images on 1918-01-01 00:00:00

Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane by infomatique on 2011-03-25 09:06:55

Photo by infomatique

Thompson of Carlow, Ireland manufactured and installed the Millennium Bridge which spans the river Liffey near Dublin City centre. It is a pedestrian bridge located just over 100m upriver from the Ha’penny Bridge. The Ha’penny Bridge, also a pedestrian bridge, was 200 years old in 2016. Thompson, an Original Equipment Manufacturer, is one of the longest established steel fabricators in Ireland.

A pedestrian bridge linking Temple Bar with the north quays was first proposed in the 1980’s. With the year 2000 approaching the bridge, like many others around the world, became a millennium project. It is one of at least fourteen bridges which were built to mark the new millennium in countries such as the United Kingdom, Montenegro, Poland, the United States and Russia. The Millennium Bridge links Temple Bar on the south side of the Liffey with the north quays.

Dublin Corporation held an international competition in 1998 to design the new bridge. The competition attracted 157 entries and the chosen design was for a lightweight steel span projecting from concrete supports on the quay walls. The steel span is 41m long and 4m wide. While the central span was being manufactured at Thompson’s engineering works in Carlow the platforms on either side of the river were being built another Carlow based firm Formwork 2000+.

When the 60 tonne steel span was completed in Carlow it was transported 80km by road to Dublin. On arrival on the quays in Dublin it was lifted onto the prepared concrete supports by crane. The bridge was opened to the public on December 20th 1999.

The central span of Dublin’s Millennium Bridge took just half an hour to be lifted and fixed into position across the Liffey in the year 1999 On This Day.

Photo by infomatique

Millennium Bridge (Dublin) by infomatique on 2014-05-31 12:20:24

Photo by infomatique

The Millennium Bridge – Dublin by infomatique on 2008-10-05 17:35:30

Millennium Bridge

Photo by muddyclay