Victims of Ireland’s Great Famine: The Bioarchaeology of Mass Burials at Kilkenny Union Workhouse

313 Pages·2015·207.824 MB·English

by  Jonny Geber

Victims of Ireland’s Great Famine
Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human Past:
Local, Regional, and Global Perspectives
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

Victims of Ireland’s
Great Famine
The Bioarchaeology of Mass Burials
at Kilkenny Union Workhouse
Jonny Geber
Foreword by Clark Spencer Larsen
University Press of Florida
Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton
Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota
Copyright 2015 by Jonny Geber
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
This book may be available in an electronic edition.
20 19 18 17 16 15 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Geber, Jonny, author.
Victims of Ireland’s great famine : the bioarchaeology of mass burials at Kilkenny Union
Workhouse / Jonny Geber ; Foreword by Clark Spencer Larsen.
pages cm — (Bioarchaeological interpretations of the human past: local, regional, and
global perspectives)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8130-6117-7
1. Famines—Ireland—Kilkenny (County—History—19th century. 2. Mass burials—
Ireland—Kilkenny (County—History—19th century. 3. Workhouses—Ireland—
History—19th century. 4. Ireland—History—Famine, 1845–1852. 5. Starvation—
History—19th century. 6. Poor—Ireland—History—19th century. I. Larsen, Clark
Spencer, author of introduction, etc. II. Title.
DA950.7.G43 2015
941.5081—dc23
2015019365
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University
System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University,
Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University,
New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University
of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
This book is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of men, women,
and children who experienced the workhouse institutions of Ireland.

Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xiii
Foreword xv
Preface xix
Acknowledgments xxi
1. Setting the Stage for a Bioarchaeology of the Great Irish Famine 1
2. “An entire nation of paupers”: Contextualizing Poverty and Famine
in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Ireland and Kilkenny 20
3. A Life Endured in Poverty: A Social Bioarchaeology of the
“Deserving Poor” 59
4. Institutionalization as the Last Resort: Famine Diseases, Mortality,
and Medical Interventions 115
5. The Bioarchaeology of the Human Experience of Famine and
Disaster: Shedding New Light on the Realities of the Great Irish
Famine 179
6. Conclusion 194
Appendix 199
Notes 233
References 237
Index 273

Figures
1.1. Drawing of the castle and city of Kilkenny, November 1845 2
1.2. County map of Ireland 4
1.3. Population summary of the Kilkenny Union Workhouse from the
minute book for the first week of March 1847 7
1.4. The Cherryfield famine graveyard outside the town of Callan in
County Kilkenny 9
1.5. In situ photograph of the skeleton of a late middle adult male 14
1.6. Aerial photograph of the Kilkenny Union Workhouse complex, ca.
early 1960s 19
2.1. Late nineteenth-century photograph of cottage buildings in
Kilkenny City 22
2.2. Early twentieth-century photograph of inmates from an unknown
workhouse in Ireland 28
2.3. Plan of the ground floor and layout of the Kilkenny Union
Workhouse 30
2.4. First-floor plan of the Kilkenny Union Workhouse 31
2.5. Ordnance Survey map of Kilkenny, 1829–1841 33
2.6. Drawing of a woman begging while carrying her dead child in
Clonakilty, West Cork, 1847 45
2.7. Number of recorded monthly deaths in the workhouse and fever
hospital in Kilkenny, 1845–1852 46
2.8. Advertisement placed in the Kilkenny Journal requesting a plot of
land for the workhouse cemetery 48
2.9. Plan of the mass burial ground at Kilkenny Union Workhouse 52