THE WORKHOUSE BOY

A Derry Workhouse Story

By: JAMES J. DEENEY

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Ireland, 1870s. Times were hard and life was grim in those days. If you had no work, you lost your home. If you had nowhere to live, you went into the workhouse- or emigrated. This is the story about the brothers Jake and Eamon Miller and their family, buffetted about in those times of hardship... An early version of this novel was read to schoolchildren in Derry, Northern Ireland and the teacher told the author that she'd never had such a strong reaction from her children over a story. "This is a Dickensian story of tenant farmers, father, mother and sons, in Derry, Northern Ireland. When one son emigrates, the rest are unable to continue the farm, and are evicted by their landlord. After fruitless efforts at begging in the streets of Derry, the three end up in a Workhouse (poorhouse). This is run by a villainous 'Master' and his sadistic underlings. Boys, girls, men and women are housed separately in primitive conditions and forbidden to mix. Ultimate punishment is solitary confinement in a 'punishment room' without facilities. The story centres on the boy, Jake, a feisty kid."