Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838

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Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838[1]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act for the more effectual Relief of the destitute Poor in Ireland.
Citation1 & 2 Vict c 56
Dates
Royal assent31 July 1838

The Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict c 56) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the system of poor relief in Ireland. The legislation was largely influenced by the English Poor Law Act of 1834.[2]

Following the passing of the Irish Poor Law Act of 1838 one hundred and thirty Poor Law Unions were established throughout the country. Each Union had a workhouse, financed by the payment of rates on landholders in the Union district.  The administration of the Poor Law Unions in Ireland (PLU) was overseen by the Poor Law Commissioners who maintained control by setting up strict accounting and recording systems. Each PLU was managed locally to a board of Guardians who met weekly to oversee the running of the workhouse (indoor) and relief work schemes (outdoor).[3]

The vast bulk of the surviving PLU records comprise Minute and Rate Books.[4] To a much lesser degree indoor and outdoor relief registers and records such as death registers and porter’s books survive.

Minute Books contain the records of each weekly meeting of the Board of Guardians they take account of the finances of the Union, procurement of provisions, hiring of staff, management of inmates and any other issues that may arise as regards the week-to-week running of the Workhouse. The minute books also record the numbers of inmates in the workhouse, numbers admitted or left in the week as well as distinguishing between sexes, adults and children. They also record numbers of sick inmates and numbers of deaths each week.

Rate Books account for the rates paid by occupiers of property and the nature of the property they occupied

Registers account for persons receiving relief from the Union. Indoor registers list name, age, sex, religion, previous address, condition on entering and date of entry and leaving the workhouse for each individual inmate.

See also[]

  • Irish Poor Law

References[]

  • The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1 & 2 Victoria. 1838. Printed by Her Majesty's Printers. London. 1838. Pages 274 to 314.
  • "Miscellaneous Report: Exemptions from and Remission of Rates" (1968) 19 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 235 (June 1968). See also pages 3 and 6.
  1. ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
  2. ^ Guide to the records of the Poor Law from The National Archives of Ireland.
  3. ^ Gerard O’Brien, ‘The Establishment of Poor-Law Unions in Ireland, 1838-43’, Irish Historical Studies 23, no. 90 (1982): 97–120, JSTOR 30008402.
  4. ^ ‘Guide to the Archives of the Poor Law’, The National Archives of Ireland (blog), accessed 1 November 2019, https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/guide-archives-poor-law/


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