By Averil Staunton
Ballinrobe Poor Law Union was formed 16th November 1839 at the Courthouse Ballinrobe and building started in 1840s and was finishing by 1841. It is amazing to think that the workhouse would have been built by contract, with over 5,000 square meters of floor space was completed in two years. No such thing as electric drills or power tools were used in its construction and even the nails were made by hand! The windows were cast on site and each of the thousands of diamond shaped glass panes were hand-cut on site.