Background
When word filtered through that libraries would close as part of Covid-19 restrictions, in January 2021, staff at Tipperary County Council Library Service embarked on a project to digitise items from the Poor Law Union Minute Book collection, which it holds at Tipperary Studies.
The Minute Books in the collection are those which have survived from eight Poor Law Unions, Borrisokane, Cashel, Clogheen, Clonmel, Nenagh, Roscrea, Thurles and Tipperary. The initial plan was to digitise Minute Books which would cover the pre-Famine and Famine era, but as libraries remained closed due to ongoing restrictions a date of 1852 as a cut of point was deemed achievable, so staff worked to digitise items up to this date. The team involved in the project were Pat Bracken, Mary Guinan-Darmody, Jane Bulfin, Aoife Moore and Greg MacDonald. As may be seen, ninety minute books, totalling 42,165 page scans were completed. The Minute Books are broken down into manageable PDF documents, 322 in total.
Statistics:
Board of Guardian Minute Books for eight Poor Law Unions, 1839-1852
Stats:
Borrisokane 1443
Cashel
Clogheen 6004 11
Clonmel
Nenagh
Roscrea
Thurles 6962 16 53 May 1839 1
Tipperary 4255
Totals 42,165 90