The Nursery, Portumna Workhouse, Co. Galway

by Clare Doyle, M.A.G.I.

The Nursery in the Workhouse at Portumna, Co. Galway was located on the ground floor adjacent to the women’s work room where women, some of them mothers, stitched and mended sheets, mattresses and uniforms for paupers.

The small fireplace offered little by way of heat and the high windows shown on the left were a deliberate architectural feature. It is believed that the height of these windows were designed specifically to prevent mothers from seeing their daughters, located just outside in the girls’ yard and from whom they were separated at an early age, each living in different blocs.

This was one of many attempts by the authorities to dissuade the incoming poor from entry. Alongside strict rules in relation to speaking, sleeping and eating, this separation made life in the Workhouse very harsh.

Imagine the difficulty small children had in these cold, hard conditions, not to speak of the lack of socialisation, little or no one-on-one attention, and a focus on making money for the Board of Guardians by working to unravel dirty, old rope or Oakum. The nursery was not a cosy, welcoming room where mothers and their children were cherished.