Descriptive list of the archive of Kanturk workhouse/poor law union Board of Guardians. Items are in hard copy and may be accessed by appointment.
Cork City and County Archives
Kanturk Board of Guardians (Ref. IE CCCA/BG/98)
Descriptive List
Table of Contents Identity Statement ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Context ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Creator(s): ................................................................................................................................................ 2 Archival History ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Administrative & Biographical History............................................................................................... 2 Content & Structure ................................................................................................................................... 4 Scope & Content .................................................................................................................................... 4 Arrangement ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Conditions of Access & Use ..................................................................................................................... 5 Allied Materials:........................................................................................................................................... 5 Archiv ist’s Note: ......................................................................................................................................... 5 List of Items and Descriptions ................................................................................................................. 6 BG/98/A Kanturk Board of Guardian Minute Books......................................................... 6 BG/98/AJ Newmarket Dispensary District Minute Book ................................................ 15 BG/98/AL Rural Sanitary Authority Minute Books (Labourers Acts) ............................... 16 BG/98/AM Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act Minute Book........................................ 18
Kanturk Board of Guardians
IE CCCA/BG/98
Identity Statement
Reference Code:
IE CCCA/BG/98
Title:
Kanturk Board of Guardians
Dates:
1858 – 1924
Level of description:
Fonds
Extent:
31 items
Context
Creator(s): Kanturk Board of Guardians
Archival History The records of the Kanturk Board of Guardians were deposited in the Archives in the early 1980s. One Rural Sanitary minute book (BG/98/AL/5) and some fragments, parts of BG/98/A/4, were later acquired as part of a large accession from County Council Offices, Annabella, Mallow, in 2007. Administrative & Biographical History The Kanturk Board of Guardians was the governing body of Kanturk workhouse and poor law union. Kanturk Poor Law Union was established under the Poor Law (Ireland) Act, 1838. It was one of 16 unions in the overall County Cork area. Each union was centred on a city or market town and its hinterland, and this union area sometimes ignored existing parish or county boundaries. In this central town was situated the union workhouse (usually built between 1838 and 1852) which provided relief for the unemployed and the destitute. Kanturk board of guardians first met on 27 February 1840. Kanturk Workhouse opened on 18 July 1844. The earliest minutes to have survived are from 1858. The area of the union included the dispensary districts of Newmarket, Kanturk, Milford, and Boherbue . In April 1878 the Poor Law Union Inquiry Commissioners held a meeting to hear evidence on the proposed dissolution of Millstreet union, and its amalgamation into those of Macroom, Killarney, and Kanturk. Each workhouse was managed by a staff and officers under the charge of a workhouse master, who reported to the board. Overall responsibility rested with the union's board of guardians, some of whom were elected, and some of whom were ex-officio members appointed usually from amongst local magistrates. The board appointed its own inhouse committees, and received reports from workhouse officers and from dispensary district committees and district medical
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officers. It also made resolutions on internal and poor law matters and, sometimes, on wider political or social issues. Poor law services were principally financed by a poor rate levied on propert y owners in the union’s districts, and collected by rate collectors appointed by the board. Central government also provided loans. Each union was under the central supervision of the Poor Law Commissioners up to 1874 and thereafter of the Local Government Board (later Local Government Board in Ireland). These government-appointed bodies received reports from the board and its officers, appointed inspectors and auditors, sanctioned or rejected proposed expenditure, appointments, and policies, and made the final decision on major administrative issues. The board also had dealings with the Commissioners for Public Works (later Office of Public Works) on premises and labourers cottages, and with the Government’s Veterinary Depart ment on contagious diseases in animals, and with other government departments from time to time. In October 1920 the board resolved not to submit minutes to the Local Government Board any longer, instead accepting the authority of Dail Eireann, and subsequently that of the Department of Local Government of the Irish Free State. Over time, the responsibilities of the guardians increased to encompass public health, including some medical relief for the destitute at the workhouse, ‘outdoor’ relief though a system of dispensary districts, and other functions including overseeing smallpox vaccinations, the boarding-out of orphan and deserted children, monitoring contagious diseases in animals, and providing labourers’ cottages an d improved sanitation. The workhouse buildings included a fever hospital, and fever sheds were created in local districts when larger outbreaks occurred. The workhouse also provided education to child inmates, and employed school teachers. These changing responsibilities were governed by legislation, including the Public Health (Ireland) Acts 1874 and 1878, Medical Charities Acts, Vaccination Acts, Dispensary Houses Act, the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act, Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878, and Labourers’ Acts. While th ese acts tended to increase the role of the board, the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 saw most of its public health functions taken over by the newly- created Cork County Council and Kanturk Rural District Council. The board continued to administer the workhouse and its hospital, and to supervise some forms of outdoor relief. In April 1921 the British military occupied the main workhouse building, and inmates had to be transferred to other buildings. In July it was ordered that all civilians be removed from all workhouse buildings. Those not discharged were transferred to Mallow Union workhouse. In January 1922 the buildings were vacated by the British military, but were swiftly occupied by the 4 th Cork Brigade of the IRA. The workhouse was officially abolished, but the board continued to meet and oversee out door relief and other functions. On 11 August 1922 the workhouse building was destroyed by a fire lit by IRA troops vacating the premises. Newmarket Dispensary House was also occupied by military throughout this period. The Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act 1923 led to the abolition of the workhouse system, and its replacement with the formation of the county boards of health and public assistance. The final recorded meeting of Kanturk board of guardians was held on 18 April 1924.
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Content & Structure
Scope & Content The surviving archives of the Kanturk Board of Guardians consist of minute books, including 26 volumes of minutes of full meetings of the board of guardians, 1858-1924 (with gaps). These include statistical information on workhouse inmates and details of workhouse life and administration. They also trace the provision and development of poor law services in the area, including the treatment of the sick and those with mental illnesses, arrangements for children, out door relief and medical treatment in dispensary districts, the challenges facing public health and sanitary provision, and the building of labourers’ cottages. The minute books also provide a glimpse of local issues and politics. The Newmarket Dispensary committee minute book (1852-92) sheds light on the provision of public medical services in a local context. Clinics, vaccinations, midwife services, and tickets for out door relief and admission to the workhouse were all managed locally and reported on to the board of guardians, which approved matters requiring sanction. The minutes of proceedings of the board acting as a local authority under the Labourers’ Acts (1886-1897) supply much detail on the beginnings of the provision of social housing in this large rural area. Information on the location, construction, tenancy, and quality of labourers’ cottages is recorded, along with many of the difficulties faced, such as initial poor construction standards, legal disputes with landowners, and the withholding of rent by some tenants. The minutes of proceedings as a local authority under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts (1879-99) is a rare example of such a minute book. While some information on this aspect of the board’s work is recorded in the full minutes, these distinct minutes provide much greater detail on inspections, cases, actions, and policies in this important area of agricultural hygiene and public health. Arrangement The collection is arranged into 4 separate series, all under the heading of minutes (see table of contents). This arrangement is based on that devised for Poor Law records nationally by Sean McMenamin of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (see Appendix 2 to McMenamin’s article in Irish Archives Bulletin Vol 1, No 2, October 1971). Please note that gaps occur.
A1-102
Board of Guardian Minute Books Newmarket Dispensary District Minutes Minutes, Local Authority, Labourers Acts
1858-1924 (26 items) 1852-1892 (1 item) 1886-1897 (3 items)
AJ1
AL1-5
AM1
Minutes, Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts 1879-1899 (1 item)
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Conditions of Access & Use
Access : Open by appointment to those holding a current readers ’ ticket.
Language: English
Finding Aids: Summary descriptive list.
Allied Materials:
Related Material
CCCA:
Board of Guardian records for other poor law unions in County Cork Cork County Boards of Health and Public Assistance records, 1921-66 Kanturk Rural District Council records, 1899-1925 Cork County Council records, 1899-1925 (including Labourers’ Cottages ledgers, 1887 - )
Elsewhere:
National Archives of Ireland:
Archives of the Poor Law Commissioners Archives of the Commissioners for Public Works/Office of Public Works
Archives of the Local Government Board in Ireland Archives of the Department of Local Government
Archivist ’ s Note: Timmy O Connor Local Government Archivist, CCCA March 2011
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List of Items and Descriptions
BG/98/A
Kanturk Board of Guardian Minute Books
Scope and Content: A record of meetings and decisions made by the board of guardians in administering the workhouse and poor relief generally. At meetings, administrative, financial, rates, and medical books were examined, officers’ reports and committee findings heard, correspondence read and considered, and applications for admission decided on. Matters arising with regard to the workhouse, staff, provisions, bills, rate collection, the Poor Law Commissioners/Local Government Board, and other issues, were also discussed. The minutes also include weekly statistics of admissions, discharges, and deaths in the workhouse, and of outdoor relief. There are many gaps in the series, with no volumes present before that beginning 25 Feb 1858, although the board held its first meeting on 27 Feb 1840. Gaps occur throughout the series, as indicated in the item list below.
Date : 25 Feb 1858 – 18 April 1924 [Gaps]
Level : Series
Extent : 26 volumes
1.
25 Feb 1858 – 19 Aug 1858
Supplemental sheets for proceedings under the Medical Charities Acts follow ordinary minutes. The ‘State of the Workhouse’ statistical tables at the start of each set of minutes include a note of ophth almia cases and ‘febrile cases’ , both in treatment and convalescent (in the ‘Observations’ field).
Includes:
25 Feb 1858 Medical Officer’s report noting one death from consumption, one chronic ophthalmia case admitted, and three births, all to unmarried parents; ordered, ‘the medical officer having consented to the appropriation of a yard in the ophthalmia hospital with the small yard to the rere, for the use of females of immoral character, the master of the workhouse was directed to carry out the arrangement as speedily as possible’. 18 Mar 1858 Ordered, following examination of tenders, that the stated persons be declared contractors for the supply of stated goods and foodstuffs for the next six months. 8 April 1858 Copy of hospital dietary referred to in medical officer’s report; names of persons elected to be members of boards of management for the dispensary districts of Newmarket, Kanturk, Milford, and Boherbue.
29 April 1858 Medical Officer’s report, noting that there were 205 patients in
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the hospital last Saturday, and that 382 extern patients have been admitted since September, all of whom, excepting contagious and febril e cases ‘could be treated in their homes… if supplied with out door relief by the board’. He adds ‘the class of patients usually sent in are dependent on their daily hire for procuring maintenance and when prevented by sickness from pursuing their avocatio ns must unavoidably seek relief in the hospital’. 6 May 1858 Ordered, that the clerk write to the unions of Mallow, Killarney, and Killmalock ‘to ascertain the average number in hospital for the year ended 25 March last, with the cost of medicine for same period’. 20 May 1858 Protest by GW Allin regarding the ‘very extraordinary length of time’ granted to the district medical officer of Milford Dispensary District as leave of absence. 3 Jun 1858 Statement regarding the admission of two protestant pensioners to the hospital, requested by the PLC [Re appointment of a protestant chaplain, see 17 Jun, 15 and 29 Jul, 12 Aug].
15 Jul 1858 Resolved, that the stated poundage rates for rate collection be adopted.
19 Aug 1858 Copy letter from the Education office forwarding extracts from the inspector’s report on the union school, noting that the teachers are ‘fully competent’ and that the course for male pupils is ‘quite satisfactory’, but that for female pupils is ‘deficient... as it does not include daily instr uction in needle work’. It is added ‘the school is progressing and is on the whole in a very satisfactory condition’.
2. 3.
Missing
3 Mar 1859 – 18 Aug 1859
Enclosure: loose page noting numbers admitted, born, discharged, and died, as at 25 March 1859
4. 5. 6.
11 Oct 1860 – 22 Dec 1860 (Fragments)
Missing
22 Aug 1861 – 13 Feb 1862
7.-8.
Missing
9.
26 Feb 1863 – 27 Aug 1863 3 Sep 1863 – 18 Feb 1864
10.
11.-14.
Missing
15.
8 Mar 1866 – 30 Aug 1866
16.-19.
Missing
20.
3 Sep 1868 – 25 Feb 1869
21.-32.
Missing
33.
13 May 1875 – 4 Nov 1875
34.-36.
Missing
37.
10 May 1877 – 1 Nov 1877
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38.
8 Nov 1877 – 2 May 1878 Supplemental sheets for proceedings under the medical charities acts and for proceedings of the board as a sanitary authority follow the ordinary minutes.
Includes:
8 Nov 1877 Letter from the board’s solicitor regarding a claim for expenses from a constable in Brosna in connection with a burial; ordered, on foot of a report of the inspector under the Cattle Disease Act regarding two cows and a calf, valued at £30, slaughtered near Dromina, that compensation of £22 10s be paid. 15 Nov 1877 Master’s report stating that a man ‘who was brought over from one of the London Unions on the 6 th July 1875 with his two children and who absconded over the wall leaving his two children behind on the 17 th July 1875 came back for readmission here last night, and is now in the workhouse. His children are out at nurse’. It is ordered that the children be brought back and that the man be prosecuted. 22 Nov 1877 LGB letter stating that they have received ‘ a favourable report of the condition of the workhouse and hospitals’; law officer’s report recommending ‘the pump handle to be removed from the well on the Strand [Kanturk] owing to the pollution of its wa ter’; Kanturk Dispensary District medical officer’s report regarding houses unfit for habitation and sanitary nuisances, including a pig in one dwelling house. 29 Nov 1877 Letter from the Privy Council Veterinary Department regarding appointments under the Pleura Pneumonia Act; Letter from Newmarket Petty Sessions regarding their appointment of an inspector under the Explosives Act 1875. 20 Dec 1877 Notice of eviction served on relieving officer, Carolin Margaret Nash, plaintiff, Venerable Archdeacon O’Re gan, defendant; ordered, assistant schoolmistress’s husband permitted to reside with her during the Christmas holidays.
10 Jan 1878 Medical Officer’s return reporting 90 successful vaccinations in the Milford Dispensary District in the year ended 31 Dec 1877.
17 Jan 1878 Resolution, to be sent to the lord lieutenant, chief secretary and county members, regarding ‘proposed legislation for the restriction of the Irish cattle trade’. Suggestions are made regarding limiting restrictions in cases of pleura pn eumonia and foot and mouth disease, and it is added ‘this board would deem further restrictions on the Irish cattle trade highly detrimental to the interests of this country’. 30 Jan 1878 Sanitary report regarding several premises at Scarteen, Newmarket, noting they ‘are in a very unhealthy state owing to dung heaps being placed up to the back doors, and all in want of privies’.
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7 Feb 1878 Master’s report referring to the attempted suicide of one ‘pauper lunatic’ and an attack on a patient by a ‘violent lunatic’. Both were ordered to be sent to the lunatic asylum. 21 Mar 1878 Medical Officer’s report, referring to an injury done to the male warden of lunatics by an inmate, causing ‘partial paralysis with impaired intellect’. A pauper is presently dischar ging the work, and it is advised that the warden not be replaced ‘as there is now facility of speedily transmitting dangerous and acute maniacs to the Lunatic Asylum’. [See also 28 March] 28 Mar 1878 Board agrees to pay police expenses for bringing back from England a man against whom a warrant was issued for deserting his wife and children, presently inmates of the workhouse. 4 Apr 1878 Letter from a tea expert regarding samples submitted by the board; letters from the workhouse school teachers in response to an unfavourable report by the district inspector.
11 Apr 1878 House committee’s report regarding disposal of workhouse manure, recommending ‘a modification of the dry earth system’.
25 Apr 1878 Letter from Poor Law Union Inquiry Commissioners regarding a meeting to hear evidence on the proposed dissolution of Millstreet union, and its amalgamation into those of Macroom, Killarney, and Kanturk.
39.-45.
Missing
46.
6 Oct 1881 – 21 Sep 1882
47.-50.
Missing
51.
25 Sep 1884 – 26 Mar 1885
52.-53. 54. 55.-58.
11 Feb 1886 – 5 May 1887 (2pp only)
Missing
59.
18 Apr 1889 – 3 Oct 1889
60.-61.
Missing
62. 63.
14 Nov 1890 – 30 Apr 1891 14 May 1891 – 29 Oct 1891
64.-68.
Missing
69.
25 May 1893 – 23 Nov 1893
70.-75.
Missing
76.
2 Jan 1896 – 2 Jul 1896
77.-82.
Missing
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83.
27 May 1899 – 23 May 1900
Pages for financial minutes have been incorporated into minutes of ordinary proceedings in this volume. Supplemental sheets for proceedings under the Medical Charities Acts follow the ordinary minutes. Meetings are held fortnightly.
Includes:
27 May 1899 LGB letter approving of the suggestion ‘that a different uniform be provided for hospital patients and they would not raise any objection to the establishment of a distinctive dress for paying and non- paying patients’. 10 Jun 1899 Resolution of the All Ireland Pig Dealers Association regarding the preserving of fairs and markets for the sale of pigs adopted [adoption of resolutions of other unions and bodies a recurring item] 19 Jul 1899 Relieving Off icer’s report on children out at nurse in the Kanturk area, with the board adding ‘as the persons with whom these children are boarded out have a special interest in them the Guardians respectfully request the Local Government Board to permit the children to remain on the custody of their present foster parents’. 16 Aug 1899 LGB letter warning that unless the board engages a recognised medicine analyst at once, recoupment for drugs obtained by medical officers cannot be sanctioned. [Sir CA Cameron, Dublin, appointed] 13 Sep 1899 LGB letter acknowledging the board’s resolution regarding its overdraft, and pointing out that they should apply to the County Council for funds to meet requirements pending collection of the first rate [following the coming into effect of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898] 27 Sep 1899 Visiting Committee’s report, noting ‘we think the system of placing lunatics in the Dark Room should be discontinued as illegal, also the adoption of straight waistcoats, and that violent lunatics should be sent to Cork Asylum immediately on admission’ ; LGB letter directing that the master at once receive into the workhouse persons invalided from HM naval service, under the provisions of the Naval Enlistment Act 1884. 25 Oct 1899 Resolved, o n Visiting Committee’s recommendation, ‘that legal proceedings be instituted against the putative fathers of all illegitimate children in the house to compel them to contribute to their maintenance’. [See also 8 Nov 1899 regarding a consequent commencement of proceedings] 6 Dec 1899 Letter from Sir Timothy C O’ Brien expressing regret at ‘not being present to join in making our late valued official, the Fever Hospital nurse, a suitable allowance after all her efforts in the case of our suffering patients. I hope that we shall remember Mrs Sullivan well’.
20 Dec 1899 Medical Officer’s report, expressing views on dietary and noting
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‘there is at present an epidemic of influenza in the workhouse’ . He comments on the male and female general hospitals, the child ren’s ward, and sick staff.
3 Jan 1900 ‘Mr WN Leader DL on behalf of the Ladies’ Visiting Committee was on application given permission to supply the children and blind inmates with a feast within a fortnight’. [See also 17 Jan 1900: Kanturk Dramatic Corp s given permission ‘to give an entertainment to the inmates’]
20 Jan 1900 LGB letter regarding the report by Colonel Kirkwood, LG Inspector, ‘which is of a generally satisfactory character’.
14 Mar 1900 Master’s report noting that an inquest into the dea th of an infant by its mother in the bed made a finding of ‘accidental suffocation’.
11 Apr 1900 Master’s report referring to the escape of an inmate from the idiot ward, who was found ‘at his father’s house in bed and refused to come back to the House’; election of attendant in the male general hospital. 23 May 1900 Master’s report noting the escape over the wall of a 14 year old boy ‘shortly after his admission taking with him the workhouse clothes’. He has since been arrested and is awaiting trial.
84. 85.
Missing
3 Jul 1901 – 21 May 1902
86.-89.
Missing
90.
10 Jan 1906 – 6 Mar 1907
91.-97.
Missing
98. 99.
4 Nov 1914 – 24 Jan 1917
Missing
100.
21 May 1919 – 4 May 1921
Minutes of meetings are preceded by statistical minutes and financial minutes, and are followed by minutes of proceedings under the Medical Charities Acts. Minutes are typed throughout the volume. Some agenda papers also present.
Includes:
2 October 1920 Resolved, ‘that the minutes of proceedings of the Board of Guardians be not sent to the Local Government Board from this date forward, and furthermore that no further communication whatsoever be held with the Local Government Board’. [Subsequent minutes are sent to, and sanctions received from, Dail Eireann and, later, the Department of Local Government of the Irish Free State]. 23 Feb 1921 Master’s report, noting ‘Dr Collins did not attend the hospital on the 11 th instant owing to his not being able to get away from the military in time. A party of military, under the command of an officer, gained access to the workhouse at 11 o’clock pm, on the night of the 17 th instant by scaling the surrounding wall. They searched my apartments also the male side of the building and then left’.
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6 April 1921 Master’s report stating that on 2 A pril he was served notice that the military was taking over the workhouse and hospitals in 48 hours ‘when by that time every civilian person... should be removed therefrom. The military at once commenced operations by taking over the fever hospital, nurses ’ home, and the clinical operating room used by Dr Townsend’. He sets forth the steps taken by him ‘to re - arrange the different classes’, which were approved by the medical officer and military officer. In consequence of this, the board dispensed with the services of various officers, and the clerk secured temporary offices in the Egmont Arms Hotel, Kanturk. 20 Apr 1921 Master’s report, referring to the inspection of ‘ the portion of the house occupied by the military’ by the Lands Officer, Kerry Military B rigade, and to the need to ‘break open’ two new doorways to facilitate access ‘without interference with the military arrangements’. Relieving Officer’s report regarding a hired out boy , aged 15, who has left his employment ‘on the question of wages’. It is ordered that the boy’s bank book and cash on hands be handed over to him, the board ‘having no further control over him’.
101.
18 May 1921 – 18 Apr 1923
Includes:
18 May 1921 Minister for Local Government letter suggesting that workhouse officers made unemployed by the military occupation apply to the White Cross for compensation. It is added ‘it is not the duty of local authorities to practically insure officials against loss of employment should circumstances arise over which local authorities have no control’. 1 Jun 1921 M aster’s report, referring to the taking over of his and the matron’s apartments by the military, and to orders regarding admittance, dealings with civilians in custody, and the putting out of lights at night. 15 Jun 1921 Master’s report, referring to the military’s demand for details of all present and future inmates of the workhouse and hospital, and to his efforts to get the parents of named children to make provision for them outside the workhouse. He notes ‘at present there is no accommodation in the healthy portion of the house suitable for those children other than with the infirm and imbecile cases which is altogether contrary to regulations’; Received, order from the Chief Secretary under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act withholding payment to the board of sums payable out of the local taxation account and all other public funds. 13 Jul 1921 Master’s report noting that on 4 July he received notice ‘from the Officer Commanding the Troops Kanturk Sub-Area, that all civilians in the Workhouse would be removed therefrom to the Mallow Workhouse by Wednesday the 6 th instant’. He outlines his actions in complying with this notice. The board resolved ‘that we condemn the unchristian action of the military in removing patients to Mallow who were unfit to be removed’.
Minister for Local Government letter regarding the civil bill ejectment served
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on the Guardians at the suit of Major Aldworth in connection with Newmarket Dispensary. It is asked ‘whether Major Aldworth is landlor d of the premises or is acting on beh alf of the army of occupation’. [Aldworth is landlord but the building was also occupied by the military] 19 Oct 1921 Resolution regarding the payment and superannuation of officials ‘disemployed owing to the occupatio n of the workhouse by the English Military’. Consideration is adjourned ‘pending the formation of scheme of amalgamation, as it is our opinion that this very large workhouse should be utilised under the scheme’. 11 Jan 1922 Order, ‘as it is contemplated t hat it is the intention of the military to vacate the workhouse premises in short time, the Guardians unanimously appointed the late master as caretaker of the stock and premises until such time as they are taken over by the successors to the Board of Guar dians’. 25 Jan 1922 Letter from Inspector of Local Government ordering ‘that the premises occupied by the enemy forces shall, on evacuation by them, remain closed and shall not be opened presently in any circumstances. The workhouse as such shall be aboli shed at this date’. Arrangements in respect of superannuation of officials, and (in a subsequent letter) inmates, and boarding out of children, are also referred to. The meeting agreed gratuities and superannuation for officials, subject to ministerial consent. 8 Feb 1922 Notification received from the Battalion Adjutant, 4 th Battalion, Cork No 4 Brigade, IRA, that ‘the workhouse is taken over by our troops and will be used by them as a barrack until further orders’. 17 May 1922 Letter from the Master, Mallow Workhouse, stating that he cannot provide an inventory of clothing received with inmates transferred from Kanturk workhouse on 5 July 1921. He states ‘I admitted 27 men, 36 women and 11 children, some of them wearing their own clothes’. [See also 14 Jun and 26 Jul, regarding claims for ‘additional duties’ by Mallow officials ]
31 May 1922 Minutes headed ‘Workhouse closed’. Out door relief in the preceding week was provided to 104 cases, totalling 251 persons.
9 August 1922 Clerk reports that on 29 July he was served notice from Battalion Adjutant, Headquarters, 4 th Batta lion, Kanturk, ‘as per orders from Brigade Headquarters you are requested to get all Union property removed at once from the Union’. Books and records were removed to the Temperance Hall, where all board and RDC meetings will be held until further notice. 23 Aug 1922 Engineer’s report of his visit on 11 August to the workhouse premises, ‘which were destroyed by fire on the previous evening’. He notes ‘looting took place extensively’. 6 Sep 1922 Letter from the Patriotic Assurance Co Ltd stating ‘we regret to inform you that we are unable to admit liability under the policy having regard to the circumstances under which the fire took place’.
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20 Sep 1922 Letter from Patriotic Assurance Co, forwarding extracts from a letter by Hoey and Denny, their solicitors, referring to ‘the burning of the premises belonging to the Kanturk Union on the 8 th August by the IRA troops when vacating same’. It is asked that a statement be obtained from the cl erk of the union ‘to the effect that the premises were destroyed by the IRA troops and failing that, do you think we could obtain a similar statement from any actual witness of the occurrence ’. The clerk states he was not a witness. 18 Oct 1922 Clerk’s report stating that ‘Commandant -General Galvin of the National Army notified him on the 5 th instant that he will require the existing offices for the accommodation of troops’. [Newmarket Dispensary also used]. 15 Nov 1922 Letter from the board’s solicitor c onfirming that he has lodged an application for compensation of £33,000 with the provisional government in respect of the workhouse premises destroyed by fire on 10 August last; Department of Local Government letter regarding the ‘very large number of unva ccinated children’ in the county. It is noted that ‘there is something approaching an epidemic of small- pox in England and Wales’, and local authorities are urged ‘to safeguard the people from the ravages of small - pox’. 23 Jan 1923 Resolution of Longford Rural District Council adopted, calling on the government to arrange a truce, and for the convening of a meeting ‘for the purpose of finding some means of delivering our country from the present appalling state of affairs’.
102.
2 May 1923 – 30 Apr 1924
The minutes for 30 Apr 1924 occur before those for 18 Apr 1924 at the end of the volume.
Includes:
30 April 1924 Department of Local Government letter regarding a scheme for the relief of the poor in the county and county borough submitted by Cork County Council and the Cork County Borough Council under the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923.
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BG/98/AJ
Newmarket Dispensary District Minute Book Scope and Content:
Minutes of meetings of the committee of management of the Newmarket Dispensary District. Acting under the supervision of the board of guardians, the committee was responsible for district dispensary services and oversaw district medical officers, midwives, and relieving officers. The committee met roughly once a month at th e dispensary house. Quarterly, Officers’, and other reports were submitted to the board of guardians. Also submitted were resolutions passed, requisitions for medicines and other requirements, and matters arising requiring the board’s sanction (e.g. premis es, staff, individual relief cases). The minutes recorded in the present volume are brief and rather rough.
Date : 31 Mar 1852 – 14 Nov 1892
Level : Item
Extent : 1 vol
Includes:
31 Mar 1852 Resolved, ‘that the ordinary days each week on which the medical officer shall attend at the dispensary be Mondays and Fridays between the hours of 10 and 12am, and at the depot, Rockchapel, on Saturday between the hours of 12 and 1 o’clock in the afternoon’. 7 Sep 1858 Resolved, that the district be divided into 4 vaccination districts: Newmarket, Meelin, Meentina, and Rockchapel stations, the medical officer to attend these stations in the months of June and October.
2 Jun 1872 Note of medical officer’s report of vaccination, showing 1581 successful cases.
4 Jun 1873 Newscutting, advertisement for apothecary for the district.
18 Sep 1877 Letter of resignation of Dr Donaldson, medical officer, after thirty two years’ service [newscutting advertising the vacant post present]
7 Jun 1892 Deputation received stressin g ‘the advisability of having the sanitary state of the town [ie, Newmarket] improved by the introduction of a better supply of water’.
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BG/98/AL Rural Sanitary Authority Minute Books (Labourers Acts) Scope and Content:
Volumes recording minutes of proceedings of the board of guardians acting as the rural sanitary authority under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts, 1883, 1885 and 1886. Meetings were generally held weekly, and minutes are signed by the chairman and the clerk, acting as executive sanitary officer. The principal subject is schemes for erecting labourers’ cottages, and related actions. These include seeking and approving tenders, receiving loans from the Commissioners of Public Works, receiving architect’s reports, legal processes and disputes, letting to tenants, rents, and communicating with the LGB on all aspects of each scheme.
Date : 4 Feb 1886 – 24 Jul 1897 (Gaps)
Level : Series
Extent : 3 items
1.
4 Feb 1886 – 5 May 1887
Includes:
25 Feb 1886 Resolved, to forward to the LGB petitions seeking confirmation of the board’s improvement schemes and applications for sanction of loans.
25 Mar 1886 Resolution asking the LGB whether plots of ground attached to cottages may be let prior to their completion, ‘the Guardians being desirous to giv e the plots to the labourers for tillage purposes’. [ Not permitted]
10 Jun 1886 LGB letter commenting on the plan, specification, and estimate for cottages proposed to be erected submitted by the board.
15 Jul 1886 LGB letter referring to their inspecto r’s statement that ‘the advances to the contractors are greatly in excess of the value of the work done’. 5 Aug 1886 LGB letter regarding the report of Col Spaight, following the local inquiry held on 29 June. Spaight recommends that 169 of the 247 proposed cottages be erected, ‘the remainder being unsuitable or unnecessary’.
12 Aug 1886 Stated labourers declared tenants in 12 electoral divisions.
2 Dec 1886 Resolved, that the architect submit all relevant documentation to the Commissioners of Public Wor ks ‘with a view of obtaining the services of an arbitrator to fix the price to be paid to the owners and occupiers of the plots under the Labourers Ireland Acts 1883 to 1886’.
9 Dec 1886 LGB letter stating that ‘the “Kanturk Union Labourers O rder 1886” has become absolute no petition against the order having been lodged’.
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Kanturk Board of Guardians
IE CCCA/BG/98
30 Dec 1886 Resol ved, ‘that we emphatically condemn the report of our meeting of the 23 rd instant both in the Cork Examiner and Daily Herald’, the report being ‘most inaccurate and damag ing not only to B Daly but to the intelligence of the board generally’, and calling for an inquiry into this ‘stultifying blunder’. The report concerned a resolution seeking LGB approval to give work fencing plots to some of the ‘vast number of labourers’ who appeared before the board ‘seeking relief or employment’.
14 Apr 1887 Resolution appointing tenants to the 171 labourers cottages about to be erected.
26 Dec 1887 Enclosure, letter by John Sullivan to the board: ‘I the undersigned John Sullivan give up my claim to the house that I was appointed for on Denis Galvin’s farm, Tullabraher North’. [Signed with an ‘x’ mark]
2. 3.
Missing
16 Jan 1890 – 12 Nov 1891
Includes:
16 Jan 1890 Assistant architect’s report on cottages inspected by him and reported by the Local Government Board’s engineering inspector. [A recurring item]. 23 Jan 1890 Architect’s letter seeking instruction on cases where he finds houses are uninhabitable, but this has not been reported [by the LGB inspector]. He cites examples, such as a house at the Island, Newmarket, ‘in which no person can scarcely stop in with rain down’. 20 Feb 1890 Response to LGB letter, explaining the proceedings taken against the board by Mr McAuliffe, a contractor, arising out of the board holding back final payment on the grounds that the cottages contracted for, in Newtown Electoral Division, had not been certified as complete by the architect. They seek direction regarding an appeal and state ‘should McAuliffe succeed a great many contractors whose contracts are incomplete will take action against them’. 1 May 1890 Solicitor’s letter advising on proceedings on wilful trespass against three persons who took illegal possession of labourer’s cottages. [See also letter read at meeting of 3 Jul]. 15 May 1890 Resolutions passed, rescinding the existing fixed rent of labourers’ cottages, and reducing rents by three pence per week in all cases. [See also 12 Jun: LGB refuses to approve the proposal] 7 Aug 1890 LGB letter forwarding extracts of inspectors’ report s. It is noted ‘the houses built under the 1884 Order were among the first erected under the acts and the work was not superintended as it should have been, nor were the provisions of the specification as to workmanship and quality of materials stringently enforced, to which may be attributed the excessive need of repairs which now arises’.
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Kanturk Board of Guardians
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2 Jan 1891 Direction to clerk to serve notice on the tenant of a cottage in Banteer that she has forfeited her claim to the cottage by taking in a lodger.
11 Jun 1891 Letter read from a rent collector, stating ‘that there is a regular combination on the part of some labourers not to pay rent’.
4. 5.
Missing
24 May 1894 – 24 Jul 1897
This volume has no cover, and the first and last minutes present are torn and fragile, the volume as a whole showing signs of mould damage.
Includes:
14 Nov 1895 ‘Notices to quit to be served on the (named) occupiers of labourers’ cottages through the union who have not yet paid the arrears of rate due by them under the Seed Potatoes Supply (Ireland) Acts 1890 and 1891’.
BG/98/AM
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act Minute Book Scope and Content:
Minutes of meetings of the board acting as a local authority under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts (1878, 1894, 1896). Meetings were generally held weekly. At meetings, notices, reports, and letters from veterinary inspectors were read, as were communications from the Government’s Veterinary Department, which had overall responsibility for the Animal Acts. Contagious diseases arising included pleura-pneumonia, foot and mouth disease, sheep-scab, and rabies. The local authority had the power to declare an infected place and to take steps to slaughter diseased animals or sequester diseased herds. Markets and fairs were monitored, and herds were inspected regularly. Veterinary Department inspectors also conducted inspections. Following the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, this work became the responsibility of the Rural District Council.
Date : 12 Jun 1879 – 23 Feb 1899
Level : Item
Extent : 1 vol
Cork City and County Archives 2011
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