St. Joseph's Care Centre

Longford Workhouse

Longford Workhouse opened in 1842, with a capacity for 1,000 people. It served the administrative area of the Longford Poor Law Union, which included about half of the county.

In the years of the Great Famine (1845-49), the workhouse was inundated. At times, it would have to accommodate almost 2,000 people, double its capacity.

In such extreme circumstances, additional accommodation was sourced around the town.

The workhouse followed a standard design, including male and female sections.

In the late 1840s, the workhouse had introduced facilities for baking, carpentry, sewing, shoe-making and tailoring.

Built in 1844, there was an infirmary and a separate fever hospital. The fever hospital, known as Mount Carmel, stands on the high ground behind the other buildings and is the only surviving part of the original complex.

The workhouse also had a school, a church and a graveyard.

In 1922, after the Irish War of Independence, the workhouse was renamed Longford County Home. It provided care for older people unable to live independently and others, including single pregnant women. The old buildings, with the exception of Mount Carmel, were demolished in the 1960s and replaced by modern buildings, constructed in phases.

On the roadway into St Joseph’s, you will see a memorial to the writer Padraic Colum, who was born in the workhouse in December 1881, as his father was serving as its master.