Ep. 3 - Panel 1A - Part 2 - Breastfeeding in nineteenth century Irish workhouses - Judy Bolger (TCD)

NPPSH Conference

The State’s attempt to alleviate poverty during the nineteenth century culminated into the creation of the Irish Poor Law in 1838, which saw over 150 workhouses erected across the Irish landscape. A particularly vulnerable cohort of impoverished paupers were mothers and infants. This paper will outline the provisions put into place during the period by the State for the nourishment of pauper infants within in the workhouses. By law, deserted infants were entitled to a wet-nurse. This wet-nursing arrangement often took place within the workhouses, but it was also outsourced to country wet-nurses. This paper, using surviving material from the Poor Law commissioners and local workhouses, will examine and contrast individual cases of wet-nursing to assess the viability of the practice in providing adequate relief provision. Breastfeeding experiences within the workhouse, unsurprisingly, did not coincide with the contemporary medical knowledge pertaining to the lifestyle of a breastfeeding mother. Considering the weight the medical profession placed upon their breastfeeding regulations regarding weaning and the ideal diet for a mother, it is important to highlight some of the major differences evident in workhouse breastfeeding in contrast to the idealised version depicted within the medical literature. This will be done by using a case-study centred upon the North Dublin Union (NDU) workhouse. The infant mortality at the NDU workhouse was so alarming in the early 1840s that it had been dubbed ‘Infant Slaughter House’ which resulted into an official inquiry. The findings of this report included concerns about maternal diet, milk quality and the appropriate weaning age of the breastfeed child within the workhouse. Through an assessment of the breastfeeding experiences of orphaned infants and pauper mothers, this paper will highlight the plight of pauper motherhood and infanthood during the period, while also giving voice to a previously unheard and marginalised group of Irish women. Judy Bolger is a PhD student in Trinity College Dublin, researching for a thesis entitled: 'Mothering in poverty: institutionalised motherhood in Ireland, 1872-1908'. She completed her M.Phil. also at TCD in 2017 and her thesis explored 19th century Irish breastfeeding.