Ancestry has added the Glamorgan (Wales), Workhouse Records collection held by Glamorgan Archives. The records date from 1850-1920 and are from Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff and Pontypridd.
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| Merthyr Tydfil Workhouse, 1868 - Click for enlarged view |
The reason I'm mentioning this new Welsh resource is because I've been surprised at how many Irish surnames I've found in it. There are even a couple of hundred Santrys, albeit a good third of them relate to a widow called Louise Santry who seems to have popped in for a grotty meal and cold bath on a regular basis over a couple of decades.
So check it out if some of your Irish ancestors escaped the on-going Famine by catching the boat to southern Wales. I've identified a couple of Santry families that must have used Cardiff as a stepping stone to the US, because I know they crossed the Atlantic later. Maybe yours did the same. These collections could fill in gaps.
The images I've looked at in the Glamorgan collection are highly legible, either typed or in neat writing, so not as hard on the eye as some PLU records I've come across before.
Note: 27 August. This collection joined Ancestry on 24 August and had been given the name 'Cardiff (Wales) Poor Law Workhouse records'. The collection has now been changed to Glamorgan, Wales, Workhouse Registers, which more correctly describes the contents and geographical area they cover. The above post has been altered in line with this amendment.