Life for the poor of Kilkenny in 1802 was harsh, to say the least. Support for the poor was mostly left up to charity organisations, in the form of workhouses and charity schools for children. Families often survived on the meagre wages of a labouring father. In some cases, even the children were sent to work in cotton mills to earn money. The average number of children in a family in 1802 was five, which meant many mouths to feed. Often, children went hungry.
Potato Breakfast
This 1880 sketch is from a publication called The Graphic. It shows an Irish family eating a simple breakfast of potatoes. Potatoes were the primary crop grown in Ireland at this time.
Courtesy of Maggie Land Blanck, print collection.Potato Breakfast
Courtesy of Maggie Land Blanck, print collection.
Courtesy of Maggie Land Blanck, print collection.
Potato Breakfast
This 1880 sketch is from a publication called The Graphic. It shows an Irish family eating a simple breakfast of potatoes. Potatoes were the primary crop grown in Ireland at this time.
Courtesy of Maggie Land Blanck, print collection.Landlords rented out small plots of land to poor tenants, who worked the land. They were provided with a small wage and still had to pay rent to the landlord. To survive, families needed fuel to heat the home and cook the food. Coal was widely used, but was too expensive for some. Turf was slightly cheaper and used mostly by poor families. If families could not afford turf, children were sent to look for crows' nests and dried dung to burn.
Food for the poor consisted mostly of potatoes and milk. Families grew potatoes in their own plots. This reliance on potatoes meant that every time the crop failed, the family would go hungry and turn to neighbours for food. Only forty years later, the great potato famine occured and many people died, due to fact that the poor had to rely so strongly on one source of food.
According to Tighe in the Statistical Survey of Kilkenny, published in 1802:
"Their indolence, however, makes them depend on potatoes and when they fail, they have no resource but the charity of their neighbours."
Many among the poor had no access to education and were struggling to pay rent to wealthy landlords. From the quotation, do you think Tighe gives a fair assessment of the situation among the poor in Ireland at the time the survey was written?
A Hedge School
This is a drawing of a hedge school. Hedge schools were often situated literally in a hedge or ditch. These schools were illegal under the Penal Laws, as they taught Irish history and the Roman Catholic religion to children.
Courtesy of www.castlebar.ie.A Hedge School
Courtesy of www.castlebar.ie.
Courtesy of www.castlebar.ie.
A Hedge School
This is a drawing of a hedge school. Hedge schools were often situated literally in a hedge or ditch. These schools were illegal under the Penal Laws, as they taught Irish history and the Roman Catholic religion to children.
Courtesy of www.castlebar.ie.School in 1802
In 1802, there were many kinds of schools in Kilkenny. There were private schools for the well off, charity-run schools, hedge schools, and government-funded schools. Due to the penal laws, passed in the 1700s, teachers were forbidden from giving instruction in the Catholic faith in private or public. This led to a large number of Irish children being educated secretly in hedge schools, as people did not want their children anglicized in government-run schools.
A famous Kilkenny man called Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers, did much to improve education for poorer Catholic children in Ireland. He founded his first school in Waterford city in 1802. This was a brave step at the time, as it was illegal. However, Rice believed in the right to teach the Catholic faith in schools without persecution, and followed up on that belief.
The subjects taught in school at this time were reading and spelling, writing, arithmetic and book-keeping. Girls were taught to read and write, along with practical skills, such as sewing and spinning.