poor law. The Irish poor law (1838) was modelled on the new English poor law of 1834. Its introduction followed the rejection by
Whig ministers of the report of Archbishop
Whately's commission, which had recommended a package of reforms, including large‐scale public works and state‐sponsored emigration, designed to address the problems of overpopulation and underdevelopment. Whilst the English act had curtailed provision for the poor, the Irish act represented a considerable advance on the existing situation. It created a nationwide system of poor relief financed by poor rates paid, in large part, by Irish landowners. There was not, as in England, a legal right to relief. Instead relief, provided within the
workhouse, was granted at the discretion of local poor law guardians, with preference being given to the aged, the sick and disabled, and children. The guardians operated under the direction and control of the
Poor Law Commission, though the commission could not interfere in individual cases. The country was divided into 130 unions, with a workhouse in each, and 2,049 electoral divisions (later increased to 163 unions and 3,438 divisions). Boards of guardians were composed of elected guardians chosen by those paying poor rates, and local magistrates sitting ex officio. An amendment to the act in 1847 recognized the right of some vulnerable people to relief, and made provision for the granting of
outdoor relief under certain circumstances. In the post‐Famine period the scope of the system was substantially extended. From 1851 the poor rate supported not only the workhouse system but also a network of dispensary stations (see
Hospitals and Dispensaries) staffed by qualified medical officers. Poor law boards also became responsible for administering and enforcing the growing body of sanitary and other public health‐related legislation, and their role in
local government now rivalled that of
grand juries. Poor law expenditure rose from around £0.5 million in 1859 to over £1 million in 1876, and reached £1.5 million in 1895.
Notwithstanding the increasing influence of Catholic and nationalist representatives in its administration, especially after the
Local Government Act of 1898, the poor law remained an unpopular form of welfare. The first
Dáil declared its intention of abolishing ‘the present odious, degrading and foreign poor‐law system’ and replacing it with a ‘sympathetic native scheme’. Boards of guardians were formally abolished in 1925 and replaced by county boards of health and public assistance, empowered to grant outdoor relief to all needy persons. However, the anxiety of the new local authorities to limit expenditure prevented the needy from deriving any significant benefit from the changeover. The poor law remained in operation in Northern Ireland until 1946.
Bibliography
Barrington, R. , Health, Medicine and Politics in Ireland 1900–1970 (1987)
Burke, H. , The People and the Poor Law in Nineteenth Century Ireland (1987)
Virginia Crossman
