Key Events Leading To The Implementation Of The Poor Law In Ireland

Identify key events, political and ideological perspectives which led to the implementation of the Poor Laws in Ireland and discuss the impact of the Famine on the development of social services (2,000 words)

The Poor Laws in Ireland were established by the Irish Poor Law Act of 1838. (1) The act was primarily based upon the English Poor Law system established four years previously. The Royal Commission on the Operation of Poor Laws (1832-1835) had resulted in the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834 in England, a key event leading to the implementation of a similar system in Ireland. (2) The ideology underpinning the English Poor Law was common to the act which applied to Ireland. Recognising the driving forces that led to the updated Poor Laws in England aids understanding why the Poor Laws in Ireland were implemented in 1838. Partly as a result of British policies, Ireland experienced a devastating Famine in the mid-19th century. This forced changes in the social policies which formed the basis for social services in Ireland.

The cost of poor relief rose and critics of the established poor relief system felt it favoured idleness and that outdoor relief was influencing wages. It was viewed that as a result of relief, independent labourers had poorer living conditions that that of people in receipt of assistance. (3) Liberalist ideology underpinned the creation of Poor Laws and their implementation in Ireland. This ideology can be characterised by a laissez-faire or "let it be" attitude. (1) John Locke, who was a foremost liberal thinker, advocated that society, wages and the economy would self regulate. (4) Therefore this ideology emphasised minimal state intervention which was evident in the implementation of Poor Laws in Ireland. The Royal Commission supported this opinion and suggested that state support should be removed or reduced in order to allow wages reach their natural

The Act which created the dispensary system was one the earliest developments of social services following the Famine and was the foundation for development of health services in Ireland. (1)

Under this system there were 723 dispensary districts within the Poor Law Unions, which were under the governance of boards of guardians.(3) The dispensary system provided medication and a dispensary doctor within each district. Entitlement to these services was at the discretion of a management committee, but the legislation did not provide guidelines with regard to eligibility. As the system was designed only to cater for the needs of the “poor persons”, the right to healthcare was not granted.(3)

Due to the Famine a large proportion of the Irish population died or emigrated which resulted in population decline. Another early social policy that the Famine resulted in was assisted emigration, a proposal the Whately commission had suggested decades previously. Following the Famine, from 1849 until 1906, 45,000 people were assisted by the Poor Law system to emigrate.(3) In the decade between 1950-1960 alone, an estimated 1,163,418 or 17.75% of the Irish population emigrated.