Bawnboy and Templeport
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| Bawnboy village
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31) Moving out the Ballyconnell road we pass the house of Mrs. Mary Dolan and her son Caimin on our left, a family we have already referred to, and come to the Union Buildings, Bawnboy Workhouse, built in 1852. To the left of centre lived Michael Bannon, Clerk of the Union who occupied rooms here from 1906 until his death in 1964. With his wife Sue McKiernan he reared a family of six, Aidan, (RIP), Phil, Dessie, (RIP), Carmel, Kathleen and John (RIP) all of whom have left the area.
32 - 41) Michael
Bannon, known as the Clerk, was another of the great characters of Bawnboy.
He was wonderfully fluent in the English language and delighted in posing
tricky mathematical problems. When Fr. Young sought a subscription in
aid of the new cathedral, £1.00 was handed over. Fr. Young suggested
that it was a rather small contribution from a man of his means, to which
Mr. Bannon replied, 'I think it is an amplitude'. Away back in the days
of the Workhouse Chapel, Michael sat at his table at the back door taking
up the November offerings. A quiet little woman approached the table,
handed in five shillings and whispered, 'Is that enough Mr. Bannon?'
'Far too much ma'am, - for the purpose' was his reply.
Michael Bannon,
Clerk of the Union.
To the right of centre in the building lived Hugh Maguire, caretaker of the Workhouse - his father had been caretaker before him - with his wife Annie and daughter Phyllis. Annie was a teacher of crochet in Bawnboy. Hugh was one of the great footballers who played on Duffy's Hill and a handballer of great skill. He was postman in the locality for many years.
Layput diagram of the workhouse buildings.
In the north-eastern corner of the Workhouse lived Frank Gallagher and his sister Katie. Katie was a dressmaker and church organist. At Christmas and Easter time there would be an invasion of the Gallagher home for rehearsals of 'Silent Night' or 'Alleluias' and Kildoagh afterwards rang to the echoes. Frank was a man for all seasons, musician with fife or fiddle, a comic on the stage and the first to support any organisation for the welfare of the community.
Mrs. Ellen Byrnes who had been a nurse in the Workhouse was still living in the centre of the back row of the building after it had been closed down as an institution. Garda Jack Doyle found his living quarters at the village station too cramped for his increasing family and used his woodwork skills to renovate the matron's quarters before moving in. When a few years later he was transferred to Murrisk on Clew Bay, Patrick McGinn was delighted to take up residence in the same rooms. About 1950 a McDonnell family, a soldier, his wife and five daughters found accommodation there as did several other families. No one lives there now.
One well-remembered character of Bawnboy and its Workhouse was Jimmy Brannigan. He is mentioned in the minutes of the Board of Guardians meeting on 26th April 1879. 'The Clerk of the Union is directed to make enquiries as to the progress made by the boy named James Brannigan who at that time was in the Blind Asylum, Glasnevin, as the Guardians considered he should be able to work and earn a livelihood.'
It appears he came back to Bawnboy, as the Master reports on 19th January 1891 that James Brannigan and Michael Kelleher, inmates, were brought up at Bawnboy Petty Sessions on 12th. The former was sent to gaol for one month's hard labour and the summons against the latter dismissed.
The following month the Master reported that an inmate named James Brannigan, lately returned from Sligo gaol had made use of intemperate, insolent and abusive language in the presence of the Porter and inmates on the 14th instant. James was called before the Board and ordered to be locked up in the Refractory cells for six hours daily for four days.
The Workhouse
1905 You will hardly recognise anyone in this picture taken in 1905, but you can admire the style. And doesn't the workghouse look very well? The large gatering is said to have been due to a threatened outbreak of diptheria and the children were taken there for inoculation. |
On 23rd February the Master reported that the punishment ordered to James Brannigan had been carried out. However, for several years before the closing down of the Workhouse, James Brannigan had become an employee there, responsible for whitewashing and chimney sweeping - a big improvement from the bad old days of 1891. After the closing of the Workhouse Jimmy finished up as a Jack of all trades around the village.
The boys' schoolroom in the Workhouse became a dance hall, a theatre and a games centre - volleyball, table tennis, indoor football and physical training were all practised there. Step dancing, céilí dancing and ballroom dancing all got their turn as did card games such as whist and twenty-five. Big meetings were held there and smaller ones in the Porter's Room. The Porter's Room was also used for Irish Language classes taught by Mary Ann Sheridan (Mrs. Darcy), Bawnboy in the 1920s and for Local Security Force lectures in the 1940s. The Vocational School is dealt with elsewhere.
One very important part of the Workhouse was the chapel. In the bad old days it was the only room in this building where fathers, mothers and children could see one another and a word or a smile would pass between them. As the years passed and the number of inmates decreased, local people used the chapel in small numbers to attend Sunday Mass. When these numbers increased the Local Government Board (Dublin) objected to the chapel being used by 'strangers'. In 1891 the attention of the Master and Porter was directed to the exclusion of 'strangers' from the Workhouse chapel on Sundays except in the case of a few aged people in the immediate vicinity, who might be recommended by the chaplain. A roll-call of Mass attenders was ordered and taken up by the Master and the Porter. Dublin was still not satisfied and ordered that stricter admittance rules be applied. This led to a disagreement between the Workhouse Master and the local curate Fr. Matthew O'Reilly. Fr. Matt felt that his congregation was being intimidated by the Master and in a letter to the local Guardians he made a strong appeal on their behalf. The Guardians in turn, appealed to Local Government on behalf of the local population. Dublin still refused to budge.
Several other serious matters were at this time under consideration by Bawnboy Guardians:
A serious allegation - turning up for work while under
the influence of drink, when he should have been on duty, was made by
the Master against the Medical Officer.
A complaint by the chaplain, Rev. Terence Magauran against the Workhouse
Master for using disgustful and abusive language to two female inmates.
An enquiry on oath respecting the circumstances attending the death of
a patient during removal to the Workhouse. A coroner's inquest stated
that the man died from want and insufficient medical treatment.
The Medical Officer was dismissed, the Master exonerated.
In the case of the patient who died while being conveyed to the Workhouse,
the Guardians were requested to obtain a suitable ambulance for the conveyance
of patients to the Workhouse. No order however, was made by the Guardians.
Whether these serious matters diverted attention from the 'strangers'
problem, or Local Government became less vigilant, the local people continued
to attend Mass in the Workhouse without interference or roll call until
1979, when a new church dedicated to St. Mogue was built in Kilsob, Bawnboy.
Bawnboy Union
Rate Receipt 1897. John Keenan, Collector
Last update: 31 October, 2009 10:22