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The lunatic asylums of Ireland 1825-1839

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Dermot Walsh
Dermot Walsh*
Affiliation:
Health Research Board, 42-47 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
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Abstract

Objectives: By the early 19th century the social manifestations of psychiatric disorder had become a matter of public and parliamentary pre-occupation in Ireland. This concern led to legislative provision for the establishment of a national system of district lunatic asylums. This paper describes some details of the early foundation of this system.

Method: Examination of House of Commons papers on the lunatic asylums of Ireland 1835-1839.

Results: Details are presented concerning the activities, numbers of residents, admissions and costs of the 11 asylums in operation by 1839.

Conclusions: By 1839 the operational, administrative and cultural characteristics of a national asylum system that would take another half century to complete and would extend well into the 20th century had been established.

Keywords

Lunatic asylumsIreland1825-1839
Type
Historical
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , December 2008 , pp. 151 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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