Lisnaskea Workhouse

You are correct that people often checked themselves into the workhouse infirmary for free medical treatment. Unfortunately in Lisnaskea’s case the admission records don’t appear to exist. They would have told you when your ancestor was checked in and out and a bit about her circumstances. However there is some general information about Lisnaskea here, and the Board of Guardians Minutes will tell you a bit about life there. (They met weekly and contain the usual management information about how many inmates there were, illnesses food, purchases significant incidents etc). They are in PRONI in Belfast. (They are not on-line).

https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Lisnaskea/

Lisnaskea workhouse still exists and there have been some calls for it to be made into a museum. My own family lived in it for many years after it ceased to be a workhouse. (A small part of it was converted and used for conventional accommodation for many years).

Think of the workhouse as the Victorian equivalent of modern social welfare. It provided a basic safety net - accommodation, food and work but was fairly strict and for most folk was somewhere to get out of if they could but the ill, elderly and very poor sometimes had no other choice. It could be grim but the minutes and Masters Journal sometimes indicate humanity at work. In the Master’s Journal you will sometimes read that a resident had been allowed out to go to a funeral but had come back drunk. That sort of thing.  In Ballymena workhouse,  in the late 1840s, the young ladies had been found opening windows high up in the building at night, and young men of the town, accompanied by bottles of whiskey, had been leaning very tall ladders against the outside wall and then climbing up for a social visit.  Life goes on, even in the hardest of conditions.

Sponsor in the case of a baptism means godparent.

Thank you Elwyn, for your thoughtful response! I have indeed spent time on the Workhouses.org website, its a great resource. I enjoyed reading your story about young men driven up ladders by hormones fuelled by whiskey! As much as time flows on, some things remain unchanged! 😂 If i can someday make the trip to visit, I’d love to root around PRONI for a while. For me, the joy in tracing ancestry lies in fleshing out the facts, bringing them to life.
I’m happy that you, with such a personal connection to this workhouse, responded to me. 
Would it be wrong of me to upload an image of the records I got years ago regarding my Granny’s birth? Or is that better sent privately to one of your volunteers? I’d love someone who knows more than I to take a look. 
On a note of housekeeping, your site here: https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/buildings-da…   spells it “Lisnakea” with only one letter s, is this an alternate spelling, or am I spelling incorrectly?
Thanks again, Jill

Jill,

By all means upload the image on this site.

The spelling Lisnakea is a mistake not an alternative version. 

A little more about Lisnaskea workhouse here:

https://www.enniskillencastle.co.uk/fermanagh-stories/famine-memorials-workhouses/lisnaskea-workhouse-memorial/

Lisnaskea Historical Society might have a bit more information. (You may get Linda Swindle. She’s very knowledgeable, (and a relation of mine).

https://www.facebook.com/OldLisnaskeaPastPresent/