Archives | Cartlann Chill Dara
Naas Board of Guardians Minute Books
Identity Statement
Repository Code: IE 2036
Archive Reference: PLUN/M
Title: Minute Books of Naas Board of Guardians
Creation Dates: 1839-1922, with gaps
Extent Medium:137
Context
Administrative History: The English Poor Law system was extended to Ireland in 1838 under ‘An Acte for the more Effectual Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland’. It provided for the division of the county into unions with a workhouse in each, the election of a board of guardians to administer each union, and the levying of a rate to finance the poor law system, including raising capital to build a workhouse. Three poor law unions covered Co. Kildare and parts of the adjoining counties of Wicklow, Laois, Offaly, Meath and Dublin, with workhouses established at Athy, Celbridge and Naas. A site was selected for the Naas Union workhouse south-east of the town of Naas, adjacent to the Fever hospital on land rented from John Hickey of Craddockstown, Naas, an elected member of the board of guardians for the electoral division of Naas. The unions were controlled by the poor law commissioners until the establishment of the Local Government Board in 1872. The rise of the population in the workhouse during the famine (1845-1850) left the system unable to cope with the demands placed upon it. The board of guardians was later given further responsibilities for public health (1850s), boarding out of children (1860s) and rural housing from 1883. The Medical Charities Act of 1851 introduced the dispensary system which provided for the appointment of a medical doctor, provision of a dispensary and the supply of medicines and medical appliances for districts in each union. The work of the dispensary was overseen by a Dispensary Committee composed of guardians and local rate payers elected on an annual basis.
Content and Structure
Scope and Content: The records of the Naas Poor Law Union (PLUN) (1839-1922) includes a full set of minute books, along with varying amounts of accounts’ ledgers, dispensary committee books, correspondence books, vaccination records, and some early twentieth century indoor relief books. There are two surviving Indoor Relief Registers covering the years November 1918 to February 1927. The minutes of proceedings at the weekly meeting of the Naas Board of Guardians contain weekly statistical information on the state of the workhouse. Information recorded under headings which include ‘number of inmates for which accommodation is provided’, ‘workhouse’, ‘temporary buildings’, ‘additional workhouse’, ‘fever hospital’ and ‘fever sheds’. Also ‘numbers admitted during the week’, ‘numbers discharged or died’ and ‘number of lunatics and idiots in workhouse’. Record of out-door relief also given, including ‘relief district’ and ‘no. of cases relieved’. Each meeting records the name of the chairman and the board members in attendance. The agenda at the meeting typically included the reading of the clerk’s report, an examination of the Workhouse and Outdoor Relief Registers, the cost of ‘provisions and necessaries’, the treasurer's book of receipt, the clothing accounts and Medical Officers book, and the report of the Master of the Workhouse or other officers. Letters from the Poor Law Commissioners are read into the minutes and any additional business dealt with, including staff absences, sick leave, adverts for tenders and medical expenses for the dispensary districts. Each volume contains an index.
Arrangement: Manuscript bound volumes are arranged chronologically.
Conditions of Access and Use
Access Conditions: Full Access, except for fragile items which require conversation.
Conditions Governing Reproduction: Permission from archivist required
Creation Dates: 1839-1922
Extent Medium: 137 items
Material Language: English
Allied Materials
Copies Information: Thirty-one volumes of Naas Board of Guardians’ minute books have been digitised to date and can be accessed here. These volumes were microfilmed in 2007 with funding from The Heritage Council under the Archives and Museums grant scheme.
Related Material: Athy Board of Guardians (KCA/APLU); Celbridge Board of Guardians (KCA/CPLU).
Publications: Naas Poor Law Union during the Famine, by Karel Kiely (1994).
A history of Naas Hospital from Workhouse to Hospital, Naas Local History Group (1998).
Poverty in Naas Parish 1835-1849, by Diarmaid Russell (2019).