Workhouse Museum, Derry City

In an effort to stem the tide of growing poverty, the Derry Workhouse was established in 1832, but as history unfolded, the building came to be used for quite different purposes. As potential emigrants came to Derry, a popular departure point, many of them discovered that they could not afford to pay for the passage. They sought help at the workhouse in the form of food and shelter. Many were stranded there, unable to afford to leave. Families were separated and many people died.

During these years of the Famine, more than one million people died from starvation and disease, and over 1 ½ million fled the country entirely.

The Workhouse Museum presents a chronicle of that period in Ireland’s history, using exhibits focusing on the devastation of the Famine as well as the details of life in the Workhouse itself.