07 August 2021

Clogher Workhouse, Co Tyrone: a Deaf Wanderer Decides to Stay

Clogher Workhouse (now derelict), Aug 2021.

Many people assume (wrongly) that people were forced to enter the workhouse and were not allowed to leave. However, sometimes, it was the opposite.

Clogher Workhouse - Entrance Block, Aug 2021
 

In 1913, a 'deaf and dumb' man was admitted to Clogher workhouse. The night he was admitted, he burned all his own clothes. Then, he wrote on a slip of paper and gave it to the workhouse master; he asked for a new outfit of workhouse clothes, cap, boots and a shirt. "I like to stop here", he added. 

Clogher Workhouse (now derelict), Aug 2021.
 

However the Board of Guardians of Clogher Union were not too keen that he stay. The man was given work to do and the Master tried to get him to leave the house within a week. 

 

Source: Freemans Journal, 4 November 1913, p. 4

Source: Ulster Herald, 8 November 1913, p. 13

 

More information: http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Clogher/ 

#deafhistory #irishhistory #workhouses

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