The Poor Law (Ireland) Act 1838 led to the division of Ireland into 137 Poor Law Unions, each run by a Board of Guardians who administered poor relief through a system of workhouses. Following partition in 1922, the 27 Unions in Northern Ireland remained key in providing free health care and emergency accommodation to the poor until the establishment in 1948 of the National Health Service (‘NHS’). 

Under the Poor Law system, women and girls may have been sent to live in the workhouses, some expectant mothers were sent to give birth there, while others lived there, and their children were ‘boarded out’ with local families. 

Some workhouse Boards of Guardians paid for women and girls who were pregnant to be placed in Mother and Baby Institutions and for their children to be boarded out. Other women and girls gave birth in Union infirmaries having spent time in Mother and Baby Institutions.

In Belfast, the Union Infirmary maternity hospital became the Jubilee Maternity Hospital where women and girls in many of the Belfast Mother and Baby Institutions were sent to have their babies.

In Belfast and Coleraine, workhouses continued to be maintained as hostels by the welfare authorities after 1948. In Coleraine, the hostel operated as a children’s institution prior to the building of the separate Dhu Varren children’s institution in Portrush.

What Records Exist and What Do They Contain? 

The records for the workhouses in Northern Ireland are extensive, including indoor and outdoor relief registers and minutes and records relating to the Board of Guardians as well as a variety of committees. There are differences in the records held for each Poor Law Union but some registers may hold information about children who were boarded out. 

To What Period Do the Records Relate? 

Workhouse records relate to the period 1838 - 1948.

Who Is the Controller of the Records?

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)

PRONI hold the records for the following Poor Law Unions: 

• Antrim, Co. Antrim

• Armagh, Co. Armagh

• Ballycastle, Co. Antrim

• Ballymena, Co. Antrim

• Ballymoney, Co. Antrim

• Banbridge, Co. Down

• Belfast, Cos Antrim and Down

• Castlederg, Co. Tyrone

• Clogher, Co. Tyrone

• Coleraine, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• Cookstown, Co. Tyrone

• Downpatrick, Co. Down

• Dungannon, Co. Tyrone

• Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh

• Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh

• Kilkeel, Co. Down

• Larne, Co. Antrim

• Limavady, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• Lisburn, Co. Antrim

• Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh

• Londonderry, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• Lurgan, Co. Armagh

• Magherafelt, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• Newry, Co. Down

• Newtownards, Co. Down

• Omagh, Co. Tyrone

• Strabane, Co. Tyrone

How Best Can the Records Be Accessed? 

Personal Records

Personal records held by PRONI relating to workhouses can be accessed by submitting a Subject Access Request for information under the UK GDPR. For details of how to make such an application please refer to the guidance on our Accessing Records and Your Rights page.

Contacting PRONI

It is recommended that all communication with PRONI should be in writing and copies of correspondence should be kept. The contact details for PRONI are as follows: 

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland,

2 Titanic Boulevard,
Titanic Quarter,
Belfast,
BT3 9HQ.
proni@communities-ni.gov.uk