County Fever Hospital, Ennis, County Clare
During the Great Famine thousands of poor people died in the disease-racked wards of the county fever hospital which stood on this site, perishing in agony of typhus, cholera and other diseases.
When the epidemics abated in 1850 part of the building became an auxiliary workhouse for the Ennis Poor Law Union, the notorious Turnpike Auxiliary where hundreds of paupers eked out an existence. In 1855 the military authorities took possession of the fever hospital which became the headquarters of the Clare Militia.
To the end of the century officers and men who were quartered here served with distinction in many overseas engagements with the British Army.
Mark Waters marked time at 5:06 pm on April 22nd, 2006 .
Have you read the book of contemporary reports on the famine published by Mayo County Library?