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the Destitute Rule. This rule stated that the conditions one was leaving outside were of a standard lower than
the lowest imaginable. Even inside the workhouse, the conditions were still at the bottom of the scale, low
enough that admission to the house was truly a last resort.

Once inside the gates, the cataloguing and the checklist commenced: age, sex, religion, marital status, children,
ages, and if married, where was the husband? Many women stated their husbands were dead purely to try to
get better rations and food for their children. It was a policy in the early years of the poor law that only widowed
and deserted women could enter the workhouse. There was an onus on the husband to provide for their family,
and as such married women who were not deserted were not allowed to seek admission to the workhouse.

Always remember the overriding bureaucracy was based on the deterrence of vagrancy and to encourage self-
sufficiency. Their overall physical appearance was scrutinised and every mark, bruise, or health issues were
recorded in the Indoor Registers. Following registration, it was on to meet the master/ matron to see where
one’s ward room or lodging was. A uniform was assigned to the inmate, and all vestiges of outside life were
removed. Segregation commenced: husbands, wives, and families were split up (depending on children’s
ages). Most children and families never fully reunited afterwards; many passed away and never knew what
had happened.
Then began the hygiene and sanitation practices, including washdowns and delousing, all necessary in an
environment that was rampant with disease. Inmates were made familiar with the Rules of the Institution,
and any transgressions were harshly put down. Inmates had little communication with one another, the only
communication was with those in the same dormitory or workroom. Religious services were the only event
where there was a coming together of the inmates
from time to time. As noted, the workhouse was
served by both a Roman Catholic and a Church of
Ireland chaplain. On the odd occasion there were
communal dining days.

Overcrowding soon reached extreme levels, and
a guardian of the Cork Union at the time, Captain
William Martin, tendered his resignation during
the winter of 1846, citing the pressures of the
famine. His view was revealed in the records
that the guardians “are little acquainted with the
mental pressures to which the officers of the house
are now subjected, and they are more detrimental
to their health than any bodily exertion.” Martin noted a greater number of female than male admissions,
stating there was not enough work in the various “female departments” to keep them all employed. The
official capacity at this time was increased by 800 to 2,800 through the construction of adjacent wooden sheds,
but by March 1847, the weekly average number of inmates was over 5,200, more than twice the capacity.
Throughout the famine, upwards of 74% of inmates in Cork were female. Many women had been deserted
or widowed or had seen their husbands seek employment abroad. Once in the workhouse, families were
separated as stipulated by the regulations. Indeed, the famine often caused whole families to enter the
workhouse, where they were divided among the male, female, boys’ and girls’ dormitories. They laboured in
various workhouse “mini” industries such as baking, spinning, dressmaking, carding, tailoring and carpentry.
Many families were never to reunite.

Workhouses offered the poor alms with one hand and a prison with the other. Inmates were bound to abide
by the workhouse rules, and disciplinary procedures were harsh. As stated above, most workhouses had a
black-hole for solitary confinement, while expulsion from the workhouse, reduced rations, and extra menial
work were familiar punishments. One punishment consisted of breaking stones or corn using a device called a

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