History of Medicine Section, Monday, 6th November, 2023 at 6:30 pm
06/11/2023 in St Theresa’s Room, 2nd Floor, Whitefriar Street Community Centre, 56, Aungier Street, Dublin 2
“Asylum: Inside Grangegorman – Exploring the History of Psychiatry in Ireland”
Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry, TCD.
Date: Monday, 6th November 2023, 6.30 pm
Venue: St Theresa’s Room, 2nd Floor, Whitefriar Street Community Centre,
56 Aungier Street, Dublin 2
Monday 6th November 2023, 6.30 pm
In 1814, the Richmond Lunatic Asylum at Grangegorman in Dublin started an extraordinary programme of asylum building across Ireland, aimed at alleviating the suffering of people with mental illness who were homeless, in prison, or confined in appalling circumstances. By the mid-twentieth century, Ireland had proportionately more people in ‘mental hospitals’ than any other country in the world. On a given night, the number of people in Ireland’s psychiatric hospitals was more than double those in all our other institutions put together: prisons, laundries, mother and baby homes, industrial schools, orphanages.
What was the life of a patient in an asylum really like? Through letters, medical records, and doctors’ notes, Brendan Kelly gives us a glimpse inside Grangegorman and the lives of those who lived and worked there.
All welcome: Please register to attend
Wheelchair access is via the lift on the left-hand side, behind the main staircase. Please let us know if we can assist you in any way beforehand.
