The Workhouse in Dunfanaghy will reopen this week following winter closure

The Workhouse will be reopening on St Patrick's Day at 10am following its winter closure.

They are looking forward to having the doors open and welcoming back visitors, crafters and anyone who just wants to pop in The café, shop and tour will be back to normal operational hours.

"The Leprechauns have returned for another treasure hunt on the Heritage Trail! All the Leprechaun coins in the village and answer questions on the Heritage Trail! The hunt will be on from Friday until Monday," they said. "We'd like to thank everyone who was able to support us last year and we are looking forward to another great year. Go raibh maith agat to our stockists, visitors, and staff."

It will be closed during the Parade at 1:30pm in Dunfanaghy.

Construction of the Dunfanaghy Workhouse began in 1843 and it opened in June, 1845, making it the last of the originally planned workhouses to open in Ireland. It was built on a site purchased from Alexander Stuart of Ards in 1842 and cost £5,000 to build or roughly €356,000 today.

Like most workhouses in Ireland and Britain, it was designed by the Poor Law Commission’s Chief Architect, George Wilkinson, and is made up of limestone quoins and, unusually, sandstone. The total capacity of this Workhouse was 300, making it one of the smallest in the country. During the Famine years, they extended the Workhouse to house a capacity of 600.

The Workhouse was open until 1917, and then all other Workhouses closed officially in 1922 when the Irish Free State decided to disestablish the Workhouses. It became a co-op for a short period of time but the site fell to ruin and was used as pasture for farmers. In the 1980s, it was declared a Heritage Site and in 1995 it was opened as the Donegal Famine Heritage Centre by then-President Mary Robinson.