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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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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…