Belfast Union Workhouse was established along with the Poor Law Union under the
Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838 (
1 & 2 Vict. c. 56). The buildings on
Lisburn Road in
Belfast were designed by
George Wilkinson, who, having designed many workhouses in England, had now become the architect for the
Poor Law Commission in Ireland. It opened in 1841 with an initial capacity of 1,000 inmates, making it one of the earliest and largest in the new workhouse system in Ireland. The workhouse population grew quickly from 1845 due the effects of the
Great Famine, and the workhouse adapted to accommodate an additional 747 people. The workhouse was a large complex, with various facilities added over time. The original construction consisted of an administrative block, a central of block dormitories with school rooms, day rooms and food service and kitchen room, and a rear block housing the infirmary. In 1847, Dr. Seaton Reid was appointed head physician at the fever hospital. A respected expert on fevers, he wrote to the Guardians urging them to provide a larger infirmary accommodation, citing not only the "most offensive" smell, but also that the patients were "so many huddled together" that trying to provide proper medical attention in the existing conditions was "utterly fruitless". He also petitioned for nurses to be employed. The fever hospital, operating under the Infirmary, was eventually given responsibility for all cases of fever in Belfast. Destitute pregnant women were first accommodated in a
lying-in ward in the infirmary, then from 1892 in the designated maternity block, Ivy Cottage. A nurses' home was also built in 1892. In 1900, two wings were added to the infirmary. It was used to treat soldiers during World War I, and in World War II it became a treatment center for civilians injured in air raids. ==Closure==