Alms Houses in Youghal

The other day I featured some social housing in Adare.  They were idyllic thatched cottages for the workers who built Adare manor.  We noticed some more social housing in Youghal last week.

Apparently the Almshouses were built in 1661 by Richard Boyle, the 1st Earl of Cork.  The Almshouses were built for six retired soldiers and their wives.  They received five pounds per annum.  They are the oldest Almshouses in the whole of Ireland.  There once lived a retired soldier there, who was 7 foot tall.  The five foot high doors must of given him a lot of fun.  Especially if been for a few sherbet dabs at the local inn.  

The houses are now in private ownership.  

We also noticed the Protestant Asylum.  This Almshouse was designed by the architect William Tinsley in 1838.  He designed quite a lot of churches and buildings in Ireland.  Work started to dry up for him during the Great Famine of 1845 and he and his wife emigrated to America.  He designed many important religious and formal buildings there.

The Protestant Asylum was built by the Protestant Relief Society to provide rooms for the homeless.  In 1992 the building was renovated to provide sheltered housing and renamed Shalom House.  

It was good to know there was social housing in those times and not just the workhouse for the poor.  Anybody can be down on their luck and homeless. It's good that the people before us cared for the poor and needy.  Much better  than the work house or "Spike".

If it was a dark and miserable morning.  My dear late mother would say:

"It"s like Christmas Day in the workhouse."


What sayings did your parents often say?