Workhouse exhibition to open in Birr

“Birr Union Workhouse” is the name of a photographic exhibition by Birr Photography Group that will run at Birr Theatre and Arts Centre from August 17 until September 1.

As the name suggests, Birr Union Workhouse is the subject of the exhibition of 41 images by 13 local photographers.

Local historian Margaret Hogan will officially open the exhibition on Sunday, August 16 next, with all welcome to that event at 7pm.

Designed by George Wilkinson, Birr Workhouse was opened just three years before the famine in 1842.

Its function as an institution was to deal with poverty by providing shelter and relief to the poor and destitute.

Since its closure in 1921 the functionality of this great historical building has been varied. From the 1930s it housed several small factories and was even used as a venue for a few Birr Vintage Week exhibitions.

Now in 2013 Birr Photography Group’s visit to the historical and now vacant site shows how the wheels have turned - the grand old building and its environs has now become itself poor and destitute.

“Birr Union Workhouse” will, along with being on view at Birr Theatre, feature in the Birr Historical Society conference on Birr Workhouse in Birr Theatre on September 6 and 7.

Birr Photography Group has regular meetings, talks, discussions and demonstrations on a variety of photographic topics on Thursday evenings from 8pm at Craughwell’s Bar on Castle Street in Birr.

For more information on Birr Photography Group, you can contact Joe on 087 657 4820 or see http://birrphotogroup.wordpress.com website.