Poverty, Relief, and Politics in the West of Ireland, 1850–1921

This paper will examine poor relief in the ‘west’ of Ireland during the post-Famine period. It will identify and analyse public, private, ordinary and emergency relief and welfare practices. Issues of particular importance that will be examined include the development of the poor law system, the nationalisation of poor relief during the 1880s by the Land League and National League, and the effects of the democratisation of local government on the provision of welfare after 1898. Running from county Donegal in the north to county Cork in the south, the western seaboard was economically, geographically and topographically peripheral. Large parts of the ‘west’ failed to develop at the same pace as the rest of Ireland during the post-Famine period. Periodic potato failures and economic down-turns led to widespread distress on a number of occasions. These sporadic crises, along with increased politicisation from local nationalist groups, transformed the administration of poor relief. Levels of actual poor law relief dispensed grew while definitions of entitlement became increasingly related to patriotism. Clashes with central government authorities emerged, whose authority and interpretation of poverty and poor relief was challenged at a local level. By exploring the factors that shaped the development of poor relief practices on the western seaboard, the paper will highlight central issues relating to the emergence of welfare regimes in post-Famine Ireland.