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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Brendan D Kelly*
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Psychiatry, University College Dublin, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, 62/63 Eccles St, Dublin 7, Ireland

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.

Type
Historical
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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