AN Enniskillen historian says he has huge concerns for the future of the old Enniskillen Workhouse entrance lodge and the famine graveyard in light of the Council’s ambitious plans to develop the area into an ‘entrepreneur’s hub’.
Gabriel Murphy, author of ‘Farewell Thee Inniskilling: Recollections of Enniskillen 1930 - 2000’ and the convenor of Kilmacormick History Group was instrumental in bringing to fruition the memorial stone that was erected at the famine graveyard to recognise the pain and suffering of the many hundreds of people buried there in unmarked graves.
Last week Fermanagh and Omagh District Council told the Impartial Reporter that, should funding be successfully secured, it and South West College would “embark on a detailed design process” to consider the future of the old entrance lodge building which “is also sympathetic to its former use”.
But the Council’s assurance has done nothing to appease Mr. Murphy’s concerns. He believes that the magnitude of the history contained on the site and the sensitivity surrounding it, has been lost on the local authority and its public representatives.
“When work began on clearing out that place, the old workhouse bell was found in a skip by a work man. I couldn’t believe it. He passed it on to me and said: ‘I thought this might be important’. I was so glad to get it. I gave it to the museum and that is where it is now.
“But can you imagine - putting it in a skip! It just shows you the kind of understanding that there is of the history of that place and the importance of pieces like that.
“So, yes, I am very much concerned about these new plans. And as I grow older, I wonder who is going to speak out and ensure that the interests of the old workhouse and those who are buried there are looked after.
“I remember when I was younger walking over Cornagrade, I was coming from a swim . I said to mother: ‘There must have been a big garden here at one time - there are so many ridges there’.
“She told me: ‘No son, you have come across the paupers’ famine graves’.
“I was horrified to think that there was nothing to mark it, or officially recognised the suffering of those people there.
“So after I retired I brought the memorial stone to the area. It is the one thing I am very proud of.
“But now that they are working on the site, where is that memorial stone? I have no idea.
“If I am honest though, I am more concerned about their [the Council’s] plans for the area up there. It is a listed building and Brendan Hegarty (Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Chief Executive) assured me that the building wouldn’t be tossed.”
The paupers’ graveyard at Cornagrade was one of two famine graveyards and the last to be used by Enniskillen Board of Governors during the famine in this area.
The workhouse and its graveyards represented squalor, hunger and suffering.When it opened in December 1845 it was home to 69 paupers. But at the height of the famine in Fermanagh, it was overrun with more than 1,000 people.
“An entrepreneurs’ hub is the last thing I would want to see there,” said Mr. Murphy.
“I would love to know how many of the present councillors actually know about the famine here and what happened up there in that workhouse? And how many of them have even been up there for that matter?
“I would say to them, the public have not been properly informed at all as to what the plans are and I strongly feel we should be involved more in what happens next.”