Ballymoney outdoor relief register database

The 1847 Temporary Relief Act permitted Poor Law Commissioners to permit boards to give food to the able-bodied poor for limited periods, though excluding persons holding more than a quarter-acre of land. It was passed in response to the worsening conditions caused by famine.

This database comprises the register of people in the Poor Law Union of Ballymoney who received outdoor relief. It covers the period 1847-99, though as one would expect it is heavily weighted towards the late 1840s when the famine situation was at its most critical. 3,800 names are given. Some names recur quite regularly as people in need kept returning for more sustenance. The original register is in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland under reference BG/5/EA/1.

These records reproduced with kind permission of Deputy Keeper of Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.