The governance of the Tullamore Poor Law Union began in 1839 with the formation of the Tullamore Board of Guardians (the Board) under the Poor Law Commissioners (P.L.C.) sitting in Dublin. The unions were governed by the 1838 Poor Law Act.[i]
The guiding principles of the Irish Poor Law was the same as that of the 1834 English Poor Law; that the workhouse inmates should be worse fed than those in the district outside the workhouse.[ii] Two days after the first admissions to the Tullamore Workhouse, on June 11th , 1842 the first dietary scale for the workhouse was adopted by the Board and approved three days later.[iii]
Dietary scale, 11 June 1842
| First class Above 15 years | 2nd class Above 9 years under 15 years | 3rd class Above 2 and under 9 years | 4th class Under 2 years | |
| Breakfast | 7 oz. oatmeal, ½ pint new milk | 3 ½ oz. oatmeal, ½ pint new milk | 3 ½ oz. oatmeal, ½ pint new milk | 1 lb. of bread, 1 pint new milk per day |
| Dinner | 3 ½ lb. cup, or 4 lb. white potatoes, or in lieu of potatoes, 1 lb. bread, 1 pint buttermilk | 2 lb. potatoes, ½ pint buttermilk | 1 ½ lb. potatoes, ½ pint of buttermilk | 1 lb. of bread, 1 pint new milk per day |
| Supper | 6 oz. bread, ½ pint buttermilk | 4 oz. bread, ½ pint of buttermilk | 1 lb. of bread, 1 pint new milk per day |
The meals at morning, afternoon and evening were served only within the workhouse at precise times. In June 1842 it was proposed by F. Flanagan and seconded by James Dillon that 25 copies of the new hospital dietary should be printed for the different infirmary hands and nurses.
Hospital Dietary, 14 June 1842
| Classes | Morningmeal | Midday | Night | -Total- | |
| Adults of both sexes | No 1 | Whey 2 pints | Oatmeal gruel 1 pint | Whey 1 pint | Whey 3 pints, gruel 1 pint |
| No 2 | Flummery 1 pint, new milk 1 pint | Ricemilk 1 pint, bread 4 oz. | Whey 1 pint | Flummery 1 pint, new milk 1 pint, ricemilk, 1 pint, bread 4 oz. | |
| No 3 | Stirabout 1 pint, new milk 1 pint | Breth 1 quart, bread 8 oz. | Ricemilk 1 pint | Stirabout 1 pint, new milk 1 pint, broth 1 quart, bread 8 oz., ricemilk 1 pint | |
| No 4 | Stirabout 1 quart, newmilk 1 pint | Beef ½ lb., potatoes 4 lb. | Bread 8 oz. | Stirabout 1 quart, new milk 1 pint, beef ½ lb., bread 8 oz., potatoes 4 lb. | |
| Laying-in women | No 5 | Stirabout 1 quart, new milk 1 pint | Potatoes 3 ½ lb., buttermilk 1 pint | Grot gruel 1 quart | Stirabout 1 quart, new milk 1 pint, potatoes 3 ½ lb., buttermilk 1 pint, gruel 1 quart |
| Infants under 2 years | No 6 Under 1 year | New milk Inaq., bread 2 oz., sugar 4 oz. | Rice 1 ¼ oz., new milk Inaq. sugar | Gruel Inag. bread 2 oz., milk ½ naggin | New milk 2 ½ nags., bread 4 oz., gruel naggin sugar ½ oz. |
| No 7 Under 2 years | New milk ½ pint, bread 3 oz. | Broth ½ pint, bread 3 oz. | Gruel ½ pint, bread 2 oz. | New milk ½ pint, bread 8 oz., broth ½ pint, gruel ½ pint |
There was a medical officer’s report conducted on the diet of the workhouse.[iv] The Board referred the report to the house committee for their opinion and reported also to the P.L.C. The medical officer wrote to the Board, ‘It would be judicious in all cases to modify and apportion systems of dietary in accordance to, and strict conformity with the age and health of individuals…,’ going on to state further ‘… the quantity and quality of food should bear a uniform relation to the limited or advanced period of the one, and to the exact condition of the other.’
The medical officer also critiqued the dietary scale drafted earlier in 1842 by the Board, stating that children of two years get buttermilk at two meals and potatoes at one meal. He complains that the ‘quantity has not been duly propositioned seems evident from this that a person of 14 yrs 11 mo gets but ½ lb potatoes more than a child of 2 yrs 1 month old.’ The illogic of the diet shows the lack of care and attention to the needs of the workhouse inmates given by the Board.
Dietary scale, 18 August 1842
| Breakfast | Dinner | Supper | |
| Over 2 to 5 inclusive | 3 ½ oz. rice, ½ pint new milk | ½ lb. white bread, ½ pint new milk | 4 oz. bread, ½ pint new milk |
| Over 5 to 9 inclusive | 4 oz. meal, ½ pint new milk | ½ lb. bread, 1 pint soup | ½ lb. bread, ½ pint new milk |
| Over 9 to 15 incl. | 4 oz. meal, ½ pint new milk | 2 ½ lb. potatoes, 1 pink buttermilk | ½ lb. bread, ½ pint buttermilk |
| Adults | 7 oz. meal, 3 naggins new milk | 4 lb. potatoes, 1 pint buttermilk | |
| Aged and informed | 7 oz. meal, 3 naggins new milk | 1 lb. bread, 1 pint soup | ½ lb. bread, 1 pint new milk |
In January 1843 it was decided to investigate the charge of altering milk after complaints made to the Board. John Beatty claimed to have: ‘heard complaints of the milk from one or two of the men, I did not examine the milk – I did not report the milk to be bad – I told the man who complains he had a right to report to the Master – was not desired by anyone to look after the milk.’[v]
The Tullamore Union could be seen as more generous that its Parsonstown counterpart. On Christmas Day and Easter Sunday a meat dinner was served and infants received 1 pint of milk per day.[vi] Many Boards of Guardians were informed by the P.L.C. that meat was not provided for in the approved dietary scale and that they should end the practice.[vii] The Tullamore Union continued the practise despite such warnings from Dublin. Otherwise, Tullamore was subject to the same stringent regulations of the Poor Law Act as the other 129 poor laws across the country.
[i] Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 56).
[ii] John O’Connor, The workhouses of Ireland: the fate of Ireland’s poor (Dublin, 1995), p. 98.
[iii] Minute Book of Tullamore Union (M.B.T.U.), 11 June 1842 (Offaly Archives, BG158/1/1); Also, transcribed in Michael Murphy, Tullamore Workhouse (Tullamore, 2007), p. 10.
[iv] M.B.T.U., 18 August 1842 (Offaly Archives, BG158/1/1).
[v] M.B.T.U., 26 January 1843 (Offaly Archives, BG158/1/1).
[vi] Brendan Ryan, ‘The workhouses of Ireland and their manifestation in King’s County’ in Offaly Heritage, vol. 10 (Tullamore, 2018), pp 185-228 at pp 209-10.
[vii] O’Connor, The workhouses of Ireland, p. 101.
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