Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1839 - 1939 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
95 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Parsonstown’s Poor Law Union was established on the 8th of May 1839. It was formed from an elected Board of Guardians, with John Drought as chairman, comprising twenty-nine elected members and nine ex-officio Guardians with all members meeting weekly. Parsonstown Union’s area of operation covered 234 square miles from two counties: from Offaly (King’s) – Banagher, Drumcullen, Eglish, Ferbane, Frankfort, Kilcoleman, Kinnety, Lemanagan, Letter, Lusmagh, Seirkyrans, Parsonstown, Shannon Bridge, Shannon Harbour and Tissarin. From County Tipperary – Aglishcloghane, Ballingarry, Dorha, Lockeen, Lorha and Uskeane. The Union was abolished in 1925, with the Board of Guardians powers being transferred to the county councils' Board of Health.
Repository
Archival history
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Minute books, accounts ledgers, reports, workhouse registers, and ancillary material relating to the creation, administration, and eventual dissolution of Parsonstown Union from its establishment in May 1839 to its dissolution in 1925. The union’s Board of Guardians were responsible for overseeing several functions of local government; primarily the care of the poor, including the setting up, financing and running of the workhouse, the creation of dispensary districts, assisted migration and outdoor relief.
The main set of records are the minute books of the Boards of Guardians, comprising 97 volumes. Other material is financial in nature, such as the financial minute books and repayment of relief account book. Three registers of the Parsonstown (Birr) workhouse survive; 1842-1843, 1849-1850 and loose pages from a 1912 registers. As the Board of Guardians also oversaw the dispensary districts in the union, there is a ledger relating to their activities, as well as a copy of the lease for the Kinnitty dispensary residences.
Parsonstown Union’s area of operation covered 234 square miles from two counties: from Offaly (King’s County) – Banagher, Drumcullen, Eglish, Ferbane, Frankfort, Kilcoleman, Kinnety, Lemanagan, Letter, Lusmagh, Seirkyrans, Parsonstown, Shannon Bridge, Shannon Harbour and Tissarin. From County Tipperary – Aglishcloghane, Ballingarry, Dorha, Lockeen, Lorha and Uskeane.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
By appointment only. Contact Offaly Archives at [email protected]
Conditions governing reproduction
May be reproduced in accordance with provisions of the Copyright and Related Rights Act (2000). No reproduction online, in print or broadcast without express permission of copyright holder.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Michael Murphy, Anne Coughlan and Gráinne Doran, 'Grand Jury to Áras An Chontae', (Jetprint: Tullamore, 2003).
Notes area
Note
Name changes to Birr Union after January 1900.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Wright, John (Subject)
- French, Caulfield, Captain (Subject)
- Drought, John (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Original listing, Gráinne Doran
ISAD (G) online fonds level, Erin Sears, 2019
Revised full listing, Orla Connaughton, 2024
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Michael Murphy, Anne Coughlan and Gráinne Doran, 'Grand Jury to Áras An Chontae', (Jetprint: Tullamore, 2003).