‘It’s not too late’ for something to be done’

Bawnboy Workhouse Committee are continuing their appeal for a lease on Bawnboy Workhouse from Cavan County Council to carry out preservation works, writes Róisín McManus.

A previous lease ran from 2011 until 2018. During this time a number of restoration works were completed and significant funding was raised.

In 2024, Bawnboy Workhouse was allocated €114,000 in Government funding under the Historic Structures Fund. The money was earmarked to go towards the reslating of the roof on the right-hand wing of the workhouse, renewal of all gutters and downpipes, the repair and renewal of structural roof timbers, and the repair of the first-floor level.

Work to repair the roof has recently commenced.

In response to a query on the allocated funds, a spokesperson from Cavan County Council said:

“Essential conservation repairs to a portion of the roof of the workhouse will be completed by April.”

“Cavan Heritage Office has applied to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for further funds under the Historic Structures Fund and is awaiting a decision on the success of this application.”

Members of the Bawnboy Workhouse Committee are concerned that a portion of the funds could be put towards the completion of a feasibility study on the workhouse; of which there are already three.

“To have a fourth feasibility study seems to me not necessary,” says Dymphna Headen, committee secretary.

The first feasibility study was carried out by Peter Quinn Consultancy Services in 2000; a second was completed by Kelly & Cogan Architects in 2006; while the committee completed a third in 2020, all on behalf of Cavan County Council.

Dymphna explains that a letter from a senior engineer in the council, seen by the Celt, details that one of the conditions for the committee to get a new lease would be a feasibility study by a conservation architect. She proceeded to engage an architect whose service, she believes, is regularly employed by the council. “He said it would cost €70,000 to fulfil what they wanted, which included supervising whatever work was to be done,” said Dymphna.

“That’s four feasibility studies and not a slate changed,” she remarked. “If that’s the case, there would be maybe €50,000 left.

“Whereas, if Cavan County Council renewed the lease with us, we can apply for money and work with them.”

In response, a spokesperson from Cavan County Council outlined: “Beyond the repairs that will be completed over the next month, there remain significant and wide-ranging structural issues in the workhouse complex.

“The safety of the public is the primary concern of Cavan County Council in this regard, and it thus remains unsafe to open it for occupancy.”

Unique

In an attempt to address widespread poverty, the Irish Poor Law Act of 1838 divided Ireland into 130 poor law unions, with one workhouse built in each to house the poor and destitute.

In the aftermath of the famine a second phase of workhouse building began, with 33 constructed nationally after 1850. Bawnboy Workhouse was constructed in 1852 by the Irish Poor Law Commissioners Chief Architect George Wilkinson, as part of this second phase.

A feasibility study completed by Philip T. Brady Architects for Bawnboy Workhouse Committee in 2020 noted that: “Bawnboy was the only new Union in the Ulster Region and therefore the only one of the Second-Phase plan, which makes it both unique and significant in the region and reinforces the need for conservation of the buildings and the imperativeness of finding suitable new uses to which it can be adapted.”

Similarly, the historical significance of the workhouse was raised in Kelly & Cogan’s earlier feasibility study:

“The memory of the difficult period when the workhouse was built is an intrinsic element of its conservation value.”

Bawnboy workhouse ceased operations following the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Up until the 1990s, at different times, the workhouse had been used for housing, as a technical school, a dance hall, a chapel and a bakery.

Overlooking the village of Bawnboy, the Workhouse is a visual reminder of our nation’s difficult past.

As scaffolding goes up to undertake repair works on one section of the roof, it is hard to ignore the state of degradation it’s endured in other parts.

The committee is unable to apply for funding to carry out restoration works without a lease from Cavan County Council. However Dymphna remains optimistic about the workhouse’s potential.

“I could imagine the most wonderful museum in one half,” Dymphna tells the Celt.

“I could imagine having little projections on the wall of the children in the dormitory, and their stories, or props in the mothers’ place, people who were forced there to have their babies and left there. You could put interesting stories all around one half.

Giving an example of its rich history, she notes it had significance for one giant of Irish history: “Sinn Féin occupied it in 1917 to raise money for Arthur Griffith who was standing for election in Cavan.”

The other wing she would view as having a community focus.

“I would see it, with the Men’s Shed, with Foróige, with artists’ studios, with possibility for the community getting together and organising events.”

Dymphna stresses the Workhouse Committee members are eager to help secure an exciting furure for the building.

“The Council owns it, it’s a listed building. It’s their obligation to maintain it.

“If Cavan County Council would work with us, we could access money and make this both a historic site for people to visit and a place for the community also.”

“It’s not too late, something can be done,” she concludes.

In its response Cavan County Council noted the finite resources available and that other worthwhile projects are similarly seeking much needed funds.

“In selecting capital projects for submission to funding streams such as the RRDF (Rural Regeneration and Development Fund), Cavan County Council must weigh up the suitability of individual projects and their compatibility with the scheme in question, while also assessing the projects most likely to succeed in securing funds.

“At present there are other projects which are more advanced in that regard.

“It should also be noted that capital schemes such as this are not 100% funded, and come with a significant match funding requirement, that can amount to an investment of millions of Euro by the local authority in a project.

“Any proposals for Bawnboy Workhouse must be considered in light of this fact and the many competing demands for council resources.”