The founding of The Mendicity Institution
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MENDICITY
I8I8 – 20I8
The founding of
The Mendicity Institution
Eighteenth Century Dublin grew in all directions:
economically, politically and geographically. Among the most
important buildings constructed in its westward expansion was
the house of the Earl of Moira at Ushers Island, later to become
the home of the Mendicity Institution. Built in 1752, the
mansion was set in beautiful gardens and its splendid interiors
included walls inlaid with mother of pearl.
By the end of the century, while the city had reached ‘a climax The constitutional union of Great Britain and Ireland in
of beauty’ which could ‘rank with the very finest cities of Europe 1800 changed radically the status of Dublin; with the
for extent, magnificence and commerce’, poverty was rife, and retreat from Ireland of many of the wealthiest class, the
Dublin’s slums among the worst in Europe (Malton, 1794 p. 14). value of property fell and industries such as the building
Visitors commented on the extent of begging, or mendicity, in the trade and silk and poplin manufacture suffered considerably.
city: As soldiers returned from the Napoleonic wars in Europe,
unemployment and begging increased. A number of plans
‘Dublin beggars crowded round the doors were proposed to deal with the poverty crisis, including the
of shops assailing customers as they went building of workhouses or ‘Houses of Industry’ but by 1809,
in and out…they blocked up narrow reports prove that this was only moderately successful.
entrances insisting on alms…even at night
they would place themselves on street Disease was rampant, threatening the lives of many and
corners or upon the bridges ‘roaring with the severe winter of 1816 compounded the misery of the
hunger’”. (Maxwell, 1936 p. 122). poor. A public meeting was held at the Mansion House
in May 1817, and a committee appointed to establish a
similar organisation to that of the Mendicity Association of
Edinburgh.
1818 YEAR 1
labour civilises and moralises
the human species
After a public meeting held at the Rotunda Rooms on 22 January 1818, the Mendicants were categorised into the following ‘classes’:
Association for the Prevention and Suppression of Mendicity in Dublin was
established. The founders included doctors, barristers, police magistrates and Classes Descriptions/Duties:
affluent Dublin businessmen such as Samuel Bewley, John D. La Touche and
Mendicants who engaged in full productive labour. These
William L. Guinness. The Lord Lieutenant was Patron and the Lord Mayor was
were paid the full value of their work and received their
President. Funding and membership were vital for the new Association’s success; a 1 wages in money allowing them to purchase cheap rations
subscription of £1 or over entitled a donor to become a member. A number of ‘label
from the Institution kitchen.
men’ were sent out daily to alert the public about the Association’s existence and
work. While occupying various premises in the early years, the Association settled in Mendicants in training for productive labour. They received a
Moira House, and from 1824 it was known as ‘Mendicity House’. 2 sum slightly lower than class 1. This afforded them to pay for
accommodation.
The Mendicity Association was ethos was expressed as ‘labour civilises
comprised of two sections: units of and moralises the human species’ and Mothers with young children and others incapable of
accommodation in Copper Alley, help was only received when earned: working for reasons such as weakness, illness or lack of
and the workhouse at Moira House, ‘he who will not work, will not eat’. 3 skill. While they received free rations, they were expected
which became known as the Mendicity The Association constantly looked for to contribute to their own maintenance and worked for the
Institution. new ways to employ the poor, taking minimum rate.
advice and recommendations from
Elderly and completely infirm; received no wages but food
Along with providing food, those organisations for the relief of poverty
supported by the Association
4 and clothing if necessary and a small rate to afford lodgings
in other cities such as Edinburgh,
until they could find an appropriate asylum.
received training and employment, Belfast and Hamburg. Spinning - which
and sometimes accommodation. was supported by the Linen Hall, the Children over six years old who were capable of learning
The Association valued work and
5 were required to attend the school in the institution.
regulatory board for the industry – proved
aimed to create a pathway back into to be the most successful and profitable
Children under six who were fed in the Institution. A
employment for those who were poor. form of employment for the Dublin
In the Third Annual Report, this
6 ‘nursery room’ was later established so that the mothers could
Association’s clientele.
supervise them.
Sick and injured mendicants who received medical care from
7 the Mendicity Institution. A was eventually established in
the Copper Alley premises.
he who will not work, Upper floor plan, Moira House
will not eat
1800 Conditions in
1870 Mendicity
In 1830, the Board of Directors wrote ‘The Mendicity
Association’s Standing Rules and Regulations.’ This outlines
the conditions within the Mendicity at the time, but also
confirms that the Mendicity was an establishment ahead
of its time. For 200 years, the Mendicity has consistently
provided wholesome food, employment and education.
During the 19th Century, Mendicity also offered additional
valuable services such as access to medicine and public
baths. All of the services provided were co-ordinated by the
Superintendent. Dining Room,
Moira House
Work & Education Food
Various work was carried out and picking oakum was one, which involved Each mendicant received 2 meals per day. Children were served
unpicking rope. Breaking stones for road building, pulverising lime for building breakfast at 8 am and dinner at 2 pm; adults had breakfast at 9 am and
materials, spinning flax and lace making were also undertaken. Some worked dinner at 3 pm. Meals consisted of oatmeal, potatoes, soup and Indian
carrying placards through the streets of Dublin, imploring the public not to give meal. Sometimes a stew would be made from these ingredients. This
alms but to donate to the Mendicity Institution instead. Some were employed was ox head stew, boiled in 12 gallons of water. It was first boiled for
as carters to collect leftover food from houses in the city. Children began school three hours, before the ox head was removed, meat stripped and diced,
each day at 8.30 am and finished at 1.30 pm. Once a child turned 14 years of age, returned to the pot and with 7 lbs of oatmeal and 1 pound of salt and
they were considered an adult and fit for work. boiled for 2 hours.
Number and Occupation of the Clientele in the
Institution during the last week of 1818
Spinners 488
Knitters -stockings 186
-rug mats 12
Street sweepers 288
Oakum pickers 20
Cart women 24
Label men and boys 55
Needle workers 20
Straw-plaiters 127
Women Picking Oakum Weaver 1
Waiting on spinning wheels 708
Elderly and infirm 319
Children in school 282
Younger children 400
TOTAL 2,930
Baths
In 1852 the Mendicity built one of the city’s first public baths. There 34 baths
Children being vaccinated against Smallpox in total and they were divided into first, second and third class, and priced
accordingly. The daily average peaked at 300 baths per day in 1879. This
Dispensary & Apothecary service continued until 1909.
Mendicity provided medical assistance to those who worked there. The
dispensary was open 7 days a week, with reduced hours on Sunday.
Those who were sick with fever and unable to work would be required
to visit a designated physician to receive permission to be relieved from
work. In these cases, mendicants who were sick would still receive
one-third of their weekly wage. In addition to this and in an attempt
to reduce illness, the Mendicity vaccinated all children who were
admitted to the Institution.
Dispensary Record, week of Jan. 8th 1848, showing case load at 184 Copper Alley, in Temple Bar area.
and 2 deaths due to Cholera.
Work room in 19th Century Ragged School.
Catholic
1829 Emancipation
Letter from the Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina
Classroom, Moira House
The repressive ‘Penal Laws’ that restricted Roman Catholics in Britain
and Ireland in civic and religious life were slowly eased from the 1780s.
Through the establishment of the Catholic Association in 1823, the
charismatic Irish lawyer and orator Daniel O’Connell began to mobilize
the Irish Catholic peasantry and middle class to agitate for full Catholic
emancipation. With the passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Act of
1829, Irish Catholics were finally admitted to Parliament and to all but a
handful of public offices.
O’ Connell was a member of the Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin
managing committee of the Mendicity were interested members. Every Sunday,
Association from 1822 and was appointed each mendicant was required to attend
to the regulations sub-committee. He service on Hawkins Street at 8 am, from
was particularly busy with the Catholic their respective clergy. The minute book
Association throughout the 1820s of 1830 stated that orphans who were
and while there are no records of his admitted to Mendicity, should be adopted
attendance at any management committee a Protestant family if the child was
meetings, he attended meetings of the Protestant, and a Catholic family of the
committee of regulations. He remained child was Catholic. The board also made
a member of the Institution until his the decision to introduce spelling books
death in 1847, becoming President of the published by the Catholic Book Society to
Association in 1842, during his term of Catholic students.
office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
The minute book of 1830 includes a letter
The Mendicity Association had a strict from the Bishop of Charleston, South
policy regarding religious practice in Carolina, commending ‘the conciliatory
the Institution, ‘the principle was not measure of Catholic Emancipation, by
to interfere in the slightest degree with which it has gained so much credit abroad
the religious opinions of the poor’ (15th and strength at home’ and a generous
Annual Report, App p.4). Anglican and donation of £84-9 shillings and 6p to the
Mendicity Institution.
Girls classroom, Ragged School
Board Resolution that children should be educated
by teachers of their own faith.
Boys classroom, Ragged School
1845
1851 The Famine
The impact on the poor of the Great Irish
Famine is evident in the records of the
Mendicity, with a large increase in numbers of
those applying for relief from 1846. As well as
the provision of food, the dispensary service
proved to be very useful during the frequent
fever epidemics.
In the summer of 1849 when cholera struck the city, there were
only two bad cases in the Institution; diarrhoea did not develop
into fatal form of the disease and this was largely attributed to the
Internal migrants making the long walk to relief during the famine.
prompt treatment in the dispensary.
The numbers in the Institution continued to rise as the situation
The Mendicity
worsened and the famine became widespread. The average daily
This is an extract of a poem written by William Nugent Skelly, the joint
attendance of 597 in January 1847 gradually increased until the
honorary secretary of the organisation, which paints an evocative picture
Institution helped 2,298 people on one day in early May of the
of the Institution’s clientele. It was published in pamphlet form as an
same year. Mendicants became accustomed to a change in diet
with oatmeal, milk, rice and turnip replacing their stable food of appeal for funds in 1847. (Woods, 1998, p. 124).
potatoes.
‘ If you desire the truth to know
The workhouse came under severe pressure with a mere 110,000
Of human misery and woe
places available. In February 1847, the widespread catastrophe
in Ireland caused the British Government to introduce soup And piteous want and deep distress
kitchens and later in June 1847, ‘outdoor relief ’ was established, In all their frightful nakedness;-
meaning the poor could receive help outside the workhouse. As
And if you have a heart to bear
a result, the average daily attendance fell to 935 in June 1847 and
continued to decrease until the number was 417 in December Scenes that are rarely met elsewhere,
1847. Then come, ye healthy, come with me
And visit the Mendicity!’
The Mendicity came under financial strain in this period. As
recorded in the minute books, on 25 October 1847 the
association’s balance was 472-8 shillings; within a year this had
decreased to £120-6 shillings leading to widespread appeals for
subscriptions sufficient enough to keep the Institution open.
Poster for migrant ships passage to Quebec, Derry 1847.
Riot at Workhouse
1884
1969 Irish Emigration
When the Mendicity Association was established,
it was discovered that many mendicants had come
to the city with the hope of getting work but were
left stranded and unable to return home. The
Mendicity’s transmission service helped them
return to their home-places. Over 2,600 people
were returned in the seven-month period from
June to December 1818. In subsequent decades, the
service expanded to help those with a prospect of
work elsewhere to take up the opportunity.
Transmission books were kept from 1884-1969, recording the details
of every applicant, whether successful or not. They communicate Migration 1890 - 1910, Queenstown, Cobh.
(Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland)
the circumstances of a wide variety of applicants, for example in the
following extracts from March 1885:
Kate McDonnell, 22,
a native of Co. Leitrim. She came from there some two
years ago since when she has been at service. Her passage
is now paid to America and she applies for transmission
to Liverpool.
Migrants on a ship to America, Migrants arriving at Ellis Island, late 19th Century
Mary Devlin late 19th Century (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress)
and 2 children aged 3 years and infant are natives of (Image courtesy of the Library of
Dublin. She went to England some 7 years ago with her Congress)
husband. He went to Glasgow to look for work. She came
to Dublin 7 weeks ago thinking she would get work. She
has no means and wants to return to Liverpool where she
has a daughter living.
Records show that by the 1920s, the last entry reads; ‘Cancelled; did not turn
Louis Borisov number helped by the service had reduced up at the bus’, thus bringing an end to
a native of Poland. He came to Dublin some 3 weeks ago; considerably but the service continued to another valuable service of the Mendicity
he is a teacher. He is unable to get any employment and be widely used throughout the twentieth Institution.
having no means he applies for transmission to be sent to century. Between 1941 and 1953, the
Manchester. Institution could only afford to transmit Nowadays, the Mendicity focuses
twelve people and between 1954 and 1968 on integrating immigrants into Irish
there were no transmissions. The final society through their Employment and
entry in the transmission book, made Integration service. The service runs
on 16 October 1969, noted that Paddy through English, Polish, Romanian, and
Power, aged 23, unemployed and living Russian.
in the Iveagh Hostel, applied for the fare
to Navan Hospital, where he had a letter
of admission. However, a note beside this
Depopulation of the western regions.
Girl leaving Gorumna Island, Galway, 1880. C.W. Cole
(Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland)
Emmigrant passengers boarding a ship during the Famine
1913 The Dublin Lockout
Ireland in 1913 was a country in disorder. It was split on the issue of self-
government and much of the population lived in dire poverty; the 1901 Census
showed 36.6% of the capital’s citizenry lived in one room, in a tenement system
of over-crowding, dirt and disease. Dublin had the highest infant mortality rate
in the UK between 1899-1913, with the death rate of infants in Dublin City of
153 per 1,000 far higher than London at 106 per 1000 and Glasgow at 129 per
1,000 (Devine, F. p. 57). Workers were generally hired on a casual basis, with
uncertainty of income contributing to severe poverty. Growing public frustration
with the conditions were a strong factor in the most significant industrial conflict
in Irish history: the Dublin Lockout.
Recognising the pivotal role of transport to During the Lockout, the Mendicity Institution Annual Attendance at the Mendicity Institution
economic growth, tram workers took strike experienced a fall in the number of men availing of 1912-1913
action in Dublin on August 26th, 1913. the organisation for support as the Transport Union,
They were protesting at the dismissal of for example, supplied its members with food. At the 1912 1913
hundreds of their co-workers who had been 96th Annual Meeting in July 1914, the Mendicity
Men 31, 081 29, 094
sacked by the Dublin United Tramways Institution reported that their work proceeded
Company (DUTC) for suspected “without interruption in 1913” and continued to Women 10,473 10,507
membership of the Irish Transport & be ‘open to people who were destitute’. However, it
Children 1,127 1,008
General Workers Union (ITGWU). The remained a significant supplier of relief and training,
Lockout grew to affect 20,000 workers with more than 40,000 men, women and children Total 42, 681 40, 609
in strikes and lockouts across Dublin served by the Association in these years.
Source: Woods A. p. 172.
and lasted until January 1914. It saw the
foundation of the Irish Citizen Army, the
militia that would play an important role in
the Easter Rising of 1916.
Group of five children, Dublin.
(Image courtesy of the Dublin City Libraries and Archive)
Chancery Lane, Bride Street, Dublin.
(Image courtesy of the Dublin City Libraries and Archive)
1914
1918 World War 1
On 4 August 1914, Britain and Ireland joined the war in
Europe. Within weeks, 40,000 soldiers stationed in Ireland
were dispatched to England and further Irish recruits
were trained and left the country in stages. For many of
the 210, 000 Irish men who enlisted, life at the Front
offered an escape from poverty, much needed employment
and a regular income. Recruiting posters advertised the
benefits of ‘separation pay’ which was paid to women whose
husbands were in service.
As a consequence of enrolment during the war,
the Mendicity’s work was lightened considerably.
Allowances made to soldiers’ wives and families saved
many from applying for regular help, but in times
of temporary poverty, due to illness or some other
emergency, the Institution was still called upon for
relief. The minute books reflected this, noting that
there had been a marked decrease in those applying for WW1 recruitment posters, Dublin.
(Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland)
assistance:
‘This can be accounted for in some measure by the war,
which has been in operation during that period. There
Annual Attendance 1912-1918
has been in consequence a large demand for labour, Year Men Women Children Total Daily
increased wages, and by reason of military allowances Average
made to Soldiers’ wives and children there has been a
more plentiful circulation of money. This of course will 1912 31,081 (72.8%) 10,473 (24.5%) 1,127 42,681 117
cease when the war is over, and the Committee are 1913 29,094 (71.6%) 10,507 (25.9%) 1,008 40,609 112
looking forward to many demands in the future when
wages are reduced, and unemployment sets in.’ (cited in 1914 23,790 (69.7%) 9,450 (27.7%) 873 34,153* 94
Woods 1998, p.173) 1915 20,075 (64.6%) 10,255 (33.0%) 730 31, 060 85
Fuel Shortages and food price inflation between 1914- 1916 13,231 (58.3%) 8,743 (38.5%) 735 22, 709 63
1918 had an effect on everyone, but particularly the poor 1917 12,012 (57.0%) 8,736 (41.4%) 736 21, 084* 58
and unemployed. The table below shows the proportion
of women attending the Mendicity Institution for 1918 10,314 (55.1%) 7,740 (41.4%) 645 18, 699 52
assistance increased during the War. The fall in the Total 139,777 (66.2%) 65,904 (31.2%) 5,854 210,995
number of children attending was due to the provision
*Sic, the correct totals for 1914 is 34, 113, and 1917 should be 21, 484) (p. 173, Woods, A. Dublin 1998).
of breakfast or dinner at parochial schools.
Percentages inserted by B. O’Neill.
WW1 recruitment poster, Dublin. Photo of member of Royal Dublin Fusiliers, taken before
(Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland) embarkation for war.
(Image courtesy of the Dublin City Libraries and Archive)
1916 The Rising
The armed insurrection by Irish nationalists at Easter 1916 saw the
establishment of a rebel garrison at Moira House, home of the Mendicity
Institution. Located half a mile to the west of the Four Courts in Dublin, on
Easter Monday it was taken over by Captain Seán Heuston and his battalion
under orders from James Connolly to prevent British troops from entering the
city along the quays from the Royal (later Collins) Barracks. Minutes taken
at the Institution in 1916 described how ‘the poor people had been admitted
and were at their dinner in the dining hall’ when ‘they [the rebels] immediately
proceed[ed] to drive them out. They then turned their attention to the occupants
and the Institution, the superintendent with his family live on the premises and
they were driven out at the point of the Bayon[et] not being allowed to carry
away anything with them.’
Sean Heuston
(Image courtesy of the Dublin City Libraries and Archive)
Although the occupation was only expected to last a few hours,
around 26 rebels held out for more than two days of what
Desmond Ryan described as ‘one of the hardest-fought and
most persistent sieges of Easter Week’. Ryan described how, on
the Wednesday of the week of the Rising, ‘a party of soldiers
crept under cover along a wall in front of the Mendicity and
hurled in grenade after grenade. The Volunteers defied the new
weapon as best they could by catching the bombs and hurling
them back. Sometimes the catch was a good one; sometimes
a bomb burst.’ (Ryan 1966, p.161). Cut off, with no food,
Heuston ordered a white flag to be hoisted from the windows
and marched his tiny garrison out. He was executed by firing
squad on 8 May 1916.
The Rising caused major disruption to the operation of the
Institution, the minutes noting that for three weeks ‘meals
were not served’ and the ‘committee did not meet, although
transmissions continued.’ There was widespread damage to the
building. Records from the period recorded the expenditure
of over £391-9s on ‘absolutely necessary work’ to repair it and
the receipt of compensation money from the Government of
£285.16s.
1921
The Irish Free State
1923
The Irish Free State was established under the Anglo-
Irish Treaty of December 1921, signed following
the Irish War of Independence (1919-21). The terms
were divisive, leading to a split among nationalists
and subsequent civil war (1922-3). The work of the
Mendicity Association was disrupted during this
‘revolutionary’ period. On 14 April 1920, there was
no meeting due to ‘the demonstrations in support
of political prisoners’ and on 28 June 28 1922, the
minute book recorded ‘that there was no meeting of
the Committee owing to the disturbed state of the city
due to the bombardment of the Four Courts’ (Woods,
1998, p.177).
The first Dail, 1921.
(Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland)
The unsettled and difficult The unsettled political and difficult
economic situation in the new economic situation resulted in
state brought many newly more transmissions of men, women
unemployed people to the and children. They were ‘ordered
Institution looking for help in and passed’ to return to family
the 1920s. The increase in the or to places of employment. This
number of applications and in included parts of rural Ireland and Mendicity Building ????
the number of meals provided Portsmouth, London, Liverpool,
continued through the decade as Wolverhampton, Manchester and
unemployment and the price of the Isle of Man.
most commodities continued to
rise. The report for 1929 showed In what some called ‘the hungry
a ‘large increase in numbers ‘30s’, the demands on the Institution
applying for assistance’ with over continued. The 150th Annual
127,000 meals supplied that year. Report 1932 reported that the
On Christmas Day alone more number of meals provided by the
than 400 people were catered for. organisation increased by 12,050
compared to 1931, reaching 113,969
while the number of transmission
cases also increased by 102 to 139
cases that year.2018 Mendicity Today
Today, The Mendicity Institution provides a range
of services to those who are homeless and socially
marginalised. The services and values that the
Mendicity was originally founded upon, are still
enshrined in the Institution today: access to food
and employment for those who are homeless or
in need. It is their aim to disrupt and prevent the
cycle of homelessness by enabling and empowering
individuals to become self-sufficient, integrated
members of their communities.
Food Service
Mendicity continues to offer its 200-year-old tradition of serving
meals to those who are homeless, marginalised and in need.
They provide this service 6 days a week and serve approximately
20,000 meals per year.
Employment & Integration
With the Employment and Integration service, Mendicity aims to facilitate a path
toward independent living for migrants who are homeless or socially marginalised.
They provide assistance that enables access to employment, training, social welfare and
housing supports, detox and medical services. This service offered through English,
Romanian, Polish and Russian.
For more information on the services that the Mendicity Institution provides, visit
www.mendicity.org or contact info@mendicity.org
Mendicity Workshop
The Mendicity Workshop program is an innovative model of
intervention through which they provide employment through a CE
Scheme for those who are long term homeless with no social welfare
entitlements.
Each day workshop participants create handmade crafts such as flower
boxes, copper art, wooden block art, colourful cards and scented soaps,
which are all available to buy through Facebook or Etsy.Mendicity Institution
SIN CE 1818
Thank You & Acknowledgments
This exhibition was made possible through the work and efforts of the service users, staff and
Board of Directors of the Mendicity Institution. We would like to sincerely thank Dublin City
Council, who supported this exhibition through the Decade of Commemorations Fund. In
addition, we wish to thank Dublin City Libraries, in particular Pearse Street Library, who were
generous to offer us the space to host this exhibition. We would also like to extend our thanks to
the researchers, Ellie Cullen (current MA student in NCAD), and Bernadette O’Neill (former
MA student of NCAD). Research was gathered from the Mendicity Institution’s records and
manuscripts, which are situated in the National Library of Ireland, whom we would like to thank
for their cooperation, and for granting us permission to use various imagery throughout the
exhibition. Likewise, we would like to thank Dublin City Libraries & Archive for allowing us
use of imagery. We also wish to thank Leo Duffy and all at Yellowstone for their contributions
and efforts to this exhibition.
Bibliography
National Library of Ireland, Collection List No 37, MSS 32,599 – 32,616
Woods, A., 1998: Dublin Outsiders: A History of The Mendicity Institution 1818 – 1998, Dublin, A & A Farmar
Ryan, D., 1966: The Rising: the complete story of Easter Week, Dublin, Golden Eagle Books
Maxwell, C., 1936: Dublin under the Georges: 1714 – 1830, London, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.
Supported by DCC Decade of Commemorations Fund 2018
For more information on Mendicity’s services,
or to donate, visit www.mendicity.org
The Mendicity Institution
9 Island St
Dublin 8
CHY 834
info@mendicity.org
01 - 677 3308
Mendicity Institution
@mendicity1818
etsy.com/shop/mendicityinstitution
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