he folio explores how, despite strong Irish resistance, the British authorities established the Act for the Effectual Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland, which was to become one of the most despised Acts ever to come into effect in Ireland. The study includes an account of the selection of the workhouse architect , George Wilkinson, and provides a short biography of his career, together with a detailed description of his model designs for the workhouse buildings which had been designed to ensure that nothing short of total destitution would compel anyone to seek refuge there.