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The Earl Grey Scheme and the Emigration of Girls from the Workhouses of Laois
The Earl Grey Scheme and the Emigration of Girls from the Workhouses of Laois During the Great Famine, dozens of teenage girls left the workhouses of Laois bound for Australia. Their emigration was part of a British government scheme to provide the British colony with wives and domestic servants, and to rid the workhouses of ‘dead weight’. Their story is part of our local history, the story of ordinary Laois girls – neighbors, family and friends of our own ancestors five generations ago. Two years ago, 3rd year students at Portlaoise College discovered the names of 14 girl emigrants on the Laois Genealogy website. The students’ discovered that these names…
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Crime and Punishment in Queen’s County: Agrarian Crime of the 1830s and Famine Crime 1845 – 1849
Crime and Punishment in Queen’s County: Agrarian Crime of the 1830s and Famine Crime 1845–1849 During the famine, there was widespread fear that the suffering of famine victims would erupt into the violent crime that would threaten property and property owners. There was the widespread talk of insurrection and outrage among resident landlords, merchants and well-off farmers (Nationwide, in 1847, 131 requests for protection of individuals; 275 requests for increases in police and 157 miscellaneous calls for extra police assistance.) One sign of an increase in crime is the progressive increase in the size of the force during these years, from 9,100 in 1845 to 12,500 in 1850 and 1,265…
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Queen’s County 1919 – 1923: Attacks on Big Houses and Protestant Landowners
Queen’s County 1919 – 1923: Attacks on Big Houses and Protestant Landowners Terence Dooley, in his book ‘The Decline of the Big House in Ireland’, wrote that between 1919 and 1923 ‘landlords, largely because of their socio-political, economic and religious backgrounds, were to suffer outrage and intimidation on a scale the like of which their class had not experienced in living memory.’ What of other Irish Protestants in the rural community? Did they suffer such attacks? Why did attacks on Protestants occur? House burnings, harassment, assault, threatening letters, the carrying off of livestock and other property, boycotts, land grabbing, and murder, why were Protestants sometimes subjected to this kind…
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The History of The Maltings, Portlaoise.
The History of The Maltings, Portlaoise. By Mervyn McGahey The Maltings in Portlaoise was established in 1866 by John Wrafter, Clonaslee, Licensed Maltster. This is according to the stone over one of the main entrances. The site is located at Coote Street, Portlaoise and encompasses approximately 6.5 statute acres. There are indications that malting had taken place prior to this date but I have no knowledge of this. The Wrafters had apparently operated a brewery in Clonaslee, which was discontinued in 1886. Malting continued in Portlaoise under the ownership of the Wrafters until around 1886 when the premised changed ownership and was procured by the Tyrrell family from Miltown in…
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Portlaoise: Forty Historical Facts
Portlaoise: Forty Historical Facts. By John Dunne 1. The town grew up around a fort established by English settlers in 1548. In 1557 it was named Maryborough in honour of Queen Mary. 2. In October 1920, the Town Commission passed a resolution that Maryborough be renamed Portlaoise. In recent years, a local historian attributed the change of name to “a fit of pseudo-patriotism”. In 1959, Laois County Councillors were still discussing whether we were living in Maryborough or Portlaoise; Queen’s County or Laois. 3. In the mid 18th century, there were about 400 electors in the town – one of whom, as a fascinating document from 1760 makes clear, would…
