GORTA

This project captures the abandoned, Old Famine Workhouse in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ireland. The workhouse was an institution which operated in Ireland for almost 80 years, from the early 1840s to the early 1920s. There were 163 workhouses in total. If families could not support themselves, they could come into the workhouse. One of the cruellest aspects of the workhouse was that family members were split up into separate quarters. Children aged two or less could stay with their mothers. Sometimes, family members never saw each other again.