John Neville's Patriotic Workhouse Poetry

See my original Facebook post here.

John Neville (Deaf inmate and messenger for Birr Workhouse) was a patriotic man who loved his country. He wrote a stirring poem about World War 1 on the walls of the workhouse - and desperately wanted to join the Irish Volunteers. Here is his poem:

Leinster Reporter 26 February 1916, p. 4

Meeting of Birr Guardians.

Source: Leinster Reporter 25 April 1914, p. 4

"A Good Hard-Working Creature": John Neville's Yearly Pilgrimage to Cabra

 See the original Facebook post here:

John Neville, a Deaf inmate and employee of the Birr workhouse, between at least 1886 and 1920, walked every year from west Offaly to Cabra in Dublin for the Deaf ex-pupils retreat. The Birr Guardians would contribute to a new set of clothes for him.

Midland Counties Advertiser, 1 July 1886, p. 2.

 


 

Leinster Reporter, 18 May 1918, p. 1.

 

Leinster Reporter, 3 July 1920, p. 1

 

 

John Neville - a fascinating Deaf character in Birr Workhouse, Co Offaly

For my original Facebook post, please click here.

An ISL update into even more information about John Neville, a Deaf man who lived and worked for years in Birr (Parsonstown) workhouse in Co Offaly - as well as a link to my own family history!