Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T23:54:21.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

One hundred years ago: The Richmond Asylum, Dublin in 1907

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Brendan D Kelly
Brendan D Kelly*
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Psychiatry, University College Dublin, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, 62/63 Eccles St, Dublin 7, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Richmond Asylum (St Brendan's Hospital) in Grangegorman, Dublin was established in 1815 to help address the unmet needs of the mentally ill in 19th century Ireland. This paper examines the Richmond Asylum Joint Committee Minutes from 1907 in order to explore specific aspects of management and clinical activity at the Richmond Asylum, including: (a) patient populations in the asylums; (b) staffing and management issues; (c) challenges presented by workhouse populations in the early 20th century; and (d) the clinical ‘segregation’ of patients performed by the Medical Superintendent, Dr Conolly Norman, in 1907.

Keywords

History20th centuryIrelandLegislationMental health services
Type
Historical
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , September 2007 , pp. 108 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Reynolds, J.Grangegorman: Psychiatric care in Dublin since 1815. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration in association with Eastern Health Board, 1992.Google Scholar
2.Williamson, AP. Psychiatry, moral management and the origins of social policy for mentally ill people in Ireland. Ir J Med Sci 1992; 161: 556–558.Google Scholar
3.Reuber, M.The architecture of psychological management: the Irish asylums (1801-1922). Psychol Med 1996; 26: 1179–1189.Google Scholar
4.Walsh, D.Mental Illness in Ireland and its management. In: McCluskey, D (Ed.). Health Policy and Practice in Ireland. Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2006: 29–43.Google Scholar
5.Walsh, D, Daly, A.Mental Illness in Ireland 1750-2002: Reflections on the Rise and fall of Institutional Care. Dublin: Health Research Board, 2004: 21.Google Scholar
6.Hallaran, WS. An Enquiry into the Causes producing the Extraordinary Addition to the Number of Insane together with Extended Observations on the Cure of Insanity with hints as to the Better Management of Public Asylums for Insane Persons. Cork: Edwards and Savage, 1810:10.Google Scholar
7.Anonymous. Increase in insanity. Am J Insanity 1861; 18: 95.Google Scholar
8.Fuller Torrey, E, Miller, J.The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present. Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, 2001.Google Scholar
9.MacCabe, F.On the alleged increase in lunacy. J Mental Sci 1869; 15: 363–366.Google Scholar
10.Drapes, T.On the alleged increase in insanity in Ireland. J Mental Sci 1894; 40: 519–543.Google Scholar
11.Tuke, DH. Increase of insanity in Ireland. J Mental Sci 1894; 40: 549–558.Google Scholar
12.Smith, C.The Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin. In: Bluglass, R, Bowden, P (Eds). Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1990:1351–1353.Google Scholar
13.Prior, P.Dangerous lunacy: The misuse of mental health law in nineteenth-century Ireland. J Forensic Psychiat Psychol 2003; 14: 525–541.Google Scholar
14.Inspector of Lunatics (Ireland). The Forty-Second Report (With Appendices) of the Inspector of Lunatics (Ireland). Dublin: Thorn & Co./Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1893.Google Scholar
15.Kelly, BD. Mental illness in nineteenth century Ireland: a qualitative study of workhouse records. Ir J Medical Sci 2004; 173: 53–5Google Scholar
16.Jones, G.The campaign against tuberculosis in Ireland, 1899-1914. In: Malcolm, E, Jones, G (Eds). Medicine, Disease and the State in Ireland, 1650-1940. Cork: Cork University Press, 1999: 158–176.Google Scholar
17.Finnane, P. Insanity and the Insane in Post-Famine Ireland London: Croon Helm, 1981.Google Scholar
18.McCandless, P.Curative asylum, custodial hospital: the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum and State Hospital, 1828-1920. In: Porter, R, Wright, D (Eds). The Confinement of the Insane: International Perspectives, 1800-1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003: 173–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Cherry, S, Munting, R.‘Exercise is the thing’? Sport and the Asylum c1850-1950. Int J Hist Sport 2005; 22: 42–58.Google Scholar
20.McCauley, M, Rooney, S, Clarke, C, Carey, T, Owens, J.Home-based treatment in Monaghan: the first two years. Ir J Psychol Med 2003; 20: 11–14.Google Scholar
21.Holohan, TW, Holohan, W.Health and Homelessness in Dublin. Ir Med J 2000; 93: 41–43.Google Scholar
22.Teesson, M, Hodder, T, Buhrich, N.Psychiatric disorders in homeless men and women in inner Sydney. Aus NZ J Psychiatry 2004; 38: 162–1 68.Google Scholar
23.Ritson, EB, Chick, JD, Strang. Dependence on alcohol and other drugs. In: Kendell, RE, Zealley, AK (Eds). Companion to Psychiatric Studies (Fifth edition). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1996: 359–396.Google Scholar
24.Inspector of Mental Health Services. Report of the Inspector of Mental Health Services 2004. Dublin: Mental Health Com mission, 2005: 118.Google Scholar