Portumna's Irish Workhouse Centre calls itself the most complete authentic workhouse in Ireland: seven buildings ranged around four yards, opened in 1852 as one of 163 Poor Law workhouses and in use until 1922. Today guided tours and exhibitions tell the story of the people forced through its doors.
Tours last about 75 minutes and are led by guides who explain the architecture and the lives of the paupers held here. You walk the seven large buildings grouped around four yards, including the whitewashed dormitories with their raised sleeping platforms.
In the Girls' Schoolroom, Kieran Tuohy's exhibition of 20-24 carvings from Galway bog oak includes six-foot figures and pieces such as 'The Line for Soup' and 'Gates of the Poorhouse'.
An intimate museum in what was the women's workroom holds artefacts including the original workhouse cart and personal items from inmates, displayed in glass cases.
Nine chalk-board works by David Rooney, launched in 2011, depict emigration, despair and the harsh realities of the Great Famine.
The site has 280 windows, 26 of them sliding sash in the staff quarters, and much of the original ironmongery survives. The complex covers just over 8 acres outside the town.
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