A very important piece of Irish history I would recommend to anyone

Well it's not a jolly read, but if you're doing family research, and workhouses feature in that, it's an essential companion.

Disappointed by scanty material which is just basically not available to anyone at any time?

Really informative and very well written. Great to know more about our predecessors.

A stunning, readable, approach to a devastating topic.

The proposal by the British Government in the early 1830s to introduce a system of workhouses into Ireland, in keeping with the system in Britain, provided one of the few opportunity for Irish Nationalists and Irish Unionists to agree upon something. Both sides instinctively knew that a workhouse system would spell disaster and tragedy for the already desperate Irish peasantry. Lord Castlereagh and Daniel O'Connell found themselves astonished to be arguing, almost for the only time ever, on the same side of a proposal. Their exhortations were ignored and the system of Workhouses was imposed upon the Irish population, to the horror of rate-paying ascendency and destitute peasant alike.

O'Connor's book has made me view the social and built heritage of Ireland more critically; when you know how to spot them, the workhouses still dot the landscape, including Armagh community hospital, a few miles from my home of origin, and in Kilmacthomas, a few miles from my husband's home of origin.

The book is written in a calm and dispassionate manner, the shocking, horrible facts speak for themselves and require no embroidering by the author. The book is well-researched but never dry and academic in tone, it reads like a novel and is hard to put down.

Being Irish, the topic is not new to me, but the devil is very definitely in the detail when it comes to reading by-laws, rules, architectural details, food-surveys etc. A book that any Irish reader would benefit from and a fantastic place to start for a person with little or no knowledge of the politics and social structure of Ireland in the years prior to and encompassing the great Irish Famine. of enormous benefit are the extensive bibliography, notes and eighteen appendices included at the end, which allow O'Connor to write fluently and accessibly, whilst still providing chapter and verse for his assertions.

Readers will find themselves poring over floor-plans, menus, kitchen garden inventories and will come away from the book with a sense of learning far in excess of what such an easy-to-read book might promise. The occasional illustrations really add hugely to the enjoyment of the topic, and my only quibble is that I would have liked more.

Highly recommended.

I have purchased 4 copies of this book and each time I try to read it I find that it has disappeared. I managed to get the forth copy back and found it a fascinating insight into how people in Ireland were so badly treated compared to England. I found the book very moving in places.

I have already reviewed this. It was not up to expectations, I was expecting a brand new book, this quite clearly was not. Because of the two prices shown on the rear of the book, $19.95 and £9.95, I feel as if I have been conned. Book was in poor condition at an exhorbitant price.

An amazing read scary how human this makes the subject matter. Forget everything you thought you knew about Irish History and the Great Famine. The reality of living and dieing within this dreadful period of Irish History is right there in front of you from a factual perspective. Yet although fact based you can't help but feel the dreadful helplessness of our ancestors their determination to survive. This book should a must read for those that want the facts behind the workhouse system and it's relation to the Irish Nation and it's people and our history.

Excellent Book describing a terrible period in Irish History.

My great grandfather lived in Ireland through the Famine and came over in 1853, I'm sure his family lived in the workhouses and probably died there-good to know what my forefathers went through

Interesting book