83
Am. IV aving taken
-LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
rapid glance at the origin, progress, and present conasylums, in our last number, we turn, with ordinary interest, to consider the subject so far as it relates to the
1
a
lon of our own lunatic
110
Slster
kingdom.
-Bad
have been the legislative provisions for England, matters do have worn a much better aspect in the sister kingdom,
as
seem to
^?ty reference to parliamentary papers, ef?re the Act
ANe
find tliat
we
no
notice
was
of Union, of the condition of the Irish lunatic.
taken, fact,
In
might have supposed that lunatics had no existence in that country. Some provision, indeed, had been made in regard to the county of Cork; but it was too limited in its nature, and so confined in fS ?Peration, that it is almost unnecessary to mention it as an exception 0
the rest of Ireland. In 1801, a Committee of the House of Commons Passed a series of resolutions to the effect that certain acts of
parlia-
ment (27 .
Geo. III.), not having been fully carried out, inasmuch as provisions had been made only in Dublin for 118 lunatics and iotsj in Cork, for 90; in Waterford, for 25; further and more decided
| eb'slation ^edical
became necessary.
act
ause
(known
as
In
1806,
46 Geo. III.
kind of
a
xcv.)
c.
was
half-prison,
passed;
lialf-
its second
empowered a sum, not exceeding 100/. per annum, to be levied or Wards for the reception, in any hospital, &c., of a county, city, or c?unty of a town, of idiots or lunatics. This Act had been found neces" on the grounds, as the committee stated, that, with the exception the four above-named it did not towns, appear that any institution
^
Maintained
f
of
in any
^ie
le
degree at the public reception of such cases."
expense, exists in any This was indeed a sad
state of the lunatic poor of Ireland,
at a
period (1805-6) 5,395,000 souls.
by official returns, amounted to ^opulation, in the m?reover'
and' ^1G ^UUa^c the raost
1806, mainly
Passed
were
distressing
part
of
picture
when her This Act
ground "that the poor houses?a practice from which
on
confined in the same
resulted, the method of confinement malefactors," &c. ? ^ear^ struggle in which Great Britain was then and for many year rendered almost any minor subject distasteful, Until KUbsC(lUently engaged, ,
?n^r fitted
S 16
Co
?Do t
As
i
|
for
some extent freed her homes from the terrors of
t*
181
inconveniences
the
emperor; nothing appears to have been done until in 6 ev^ became so pressing and so enormous, that further ent was As an the Richmond and
'
.
in
impossible.
Dublin,
was
experiment,
empowered g
to receive
2
certain grants from the
;
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
84
1815, accommodation was opened for 200 for as }*et we liave not arrived at the point Even that accommodation appeared almost useless, since,
British treasury; or ratlier
patients,
of separation. in
and,
in
prisoners,
following report was made to Government: three?certainly two?lunatics in one bed in the House of Industry (Dublin). I have seen, I think, not fewer than fifty or sixty persons in one room, of which, I believe, the majority were insane. 181G,
"
the
I have
I have
in the
seen
of which in the
seen
was
occupied by
metropolis
dispassionate
a
bed,
the other
half
pauper." Such was, up to 1817, even the condition of the Irish lunatic.
a sane
of Ireland,
With clear and recorded and
lunatic chained in
same room a
testimony
such
the
as
men, whose characters and
above, given by cool
integrity
were
beyond
suspicion, and whose legitimate influence was very great, it became utterly impossible that such a state of things could longer exist without A Committee of the House of Commons some remedy being applied. was soon after appointed to devise the best means of meeting the evilAn able and comprehensive report (considering the time) was the This document, it is believed, was the production of a man, of result. whom his country may well be proud, (Lord Monteagle,) and whose labours for the improvement of his unfortunate country have been at all times into
steady
and consistent. It was recommended to divide Ireland erect for each district a lunatic asylum, capable of
districts,?to
containing
100
or
150
patients;
the money
requisite
to be advanced from the consolidated fund as a
districts
011
certain conditions,?to
place
these
for the
purpose
loan, repayable by the new
institutions
under the control of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
ex-
In the
clusively first instance, four; then six; and subsequently, ten districts were created, and ten asylums built: officers were appointed by the executive, and boards of superintendence, agreeably to the provisions of the act of parliament, were nominated by succeeding lords lieutenant. In fact, everything appeared to have been done to secure accommodation and care for such lunatics as obtained admission, save one,?that one omission was, that these
asylums
considered rather
prisons than as governors a practising physician in the neighbouring town, was attached. He visited, according to the first regulations, twice a-week, unless when specially called for to accidents were
hospitals. They were, in every instance, or superintendents: one medical officer,
as
placed under civil
disease; in a word, he was often twenty miles away, attending private avocations, when his immediate and pressing attendance might demand his professional duty at the asylum. The inspection of or
sudden
his
these institutions was placed under the prison department; in a word, the afflicted lunatic was looked 011 as a criminal, or an outcast, and treated as such, until recently; as in gaols, the medical attendant paid
85
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
occasional visit.
Endows
were
Leg-locks, restraint-chains, bolts,
and barred
to do the rest.*
supposed
^ was soon found that the accommodation provided in these new asJ huns, and which amounted to 1220, was too limited. The number ?^veiled almost at once up to 2000, while the gaols, to which recent of parliament had facilitated admission, (inasmuch as gaols and Qatic asylums were bundled together by legislative and executive ^sdom,) became so crowded by dangerous lunatics that all order and
*egularity seemed to
ned
be
in gaols amounted
'
notwithstanding
seriously impeded. In 1841, the lunatics conto 110; in 1843, they swelled to 214; and in
the various
the evil, the number
which
causes
might
338, again district asylums were found to be 2603. Ihe following analysis of the lunatic poor of
,,
e
inclusively show their c?uld d0.
condition than present 1
No. 1. No. 2. Pa,upers in DisPaupers in 'ct Asylums. Local Asylums. Males
1348
Fem. 1250
200,3
Fem.
Males
101
214
Gaols. Fem.
Males
190
140
I
to
Ireland may
more
remarks lengthened ?
any J
No. 4.
No. 5.
Wanderingldlots!
Males 778
338
300
supposed
Workhouses.
No. 3. in
be
while the inmates of
increased to
or
Fem. 1102
Lunatics.
About 0000
agreeably
to
Police rations.
1940
Tlius we find that although legislation has done something for lunatic poor of Ireland, excepting those in columns 1, 2, 3, little if
le
au} provision exists for
an
class.
mus^
overwhelming J of this unfortunate ? body
all hands, that owing car^ CXercised admitted, by present inspectors?Messrs. on
the
^
to the
vigilance and Nugent,
White and
patients in column 1 are fully and steadily attended to, both nioral and medical point of view, in such asylums as are provided resident medical officers, and that, so far as it is possible in the
ninS district asylums
foil a
.
C?.m*orts
where such officers do not exist, the wants ?f the inmates are anxiously looked after. But from the
?fficial statements in 1843, it is clear that in local pauper the condition of the lunatic was dreadful in the extreme.
.riUS urns
((
kei r001u *
?
111
Xhe
y-nme lunatics have been confined in the local asylum of Kiltwenty-five males and twenty-four females, with only one colrunon to males and females for dinner. The day I visited
return^ iCOstone ur?edi lor
restraints for one district asylum, year at ?37 3.. 9d.
some
vears
'
ago,
was
officially
86
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
it there were twenty females at dinner in ?were done the males came in and dined."
a
small
wlien tliey
room
At Wexford matters
were as follow :? The state of the local asylum of Wexford is most disgraceful, one patient chained to a wall. He was naked, with a parcel o oose s ra ie about him. He darted forward; and were it not t ia w', checked by a chain which went round his leg, and was as en to the wall by a hook, he would have caught hold o me, a and used another violence; I to went cell, probably 10U?,1 chained, the individual was almost as bad as the other. aT wen another room, I looked around, I heard somebody moaning?-on iey top of a screen I saw two unfortunate lunatics stretched ou trying to warm themselves through the bars of a grating, ie room so dark that I could not see them at first. Such is the recorded evidence of, perhaps, one of the mildest and most amiable' public officers that ever existed?Dr. Francis White, mspec or of prisons and lunatic asylums in 1843. In reference to the condition of lunatics confined in the Irisa w ?i "
_
,
'
_
*
we would wish to drop a veil. The portrait is a tern ) e one Their state cannot, perhaps, be paralleled in savage or civi lze us 01j uc 1'" We have now traced o legislation and the actual condition 0 lunatic poor down to 1841; up to which period tic ns ia an cssen \ lunatic'asylums is intimately interwoven; in fact, forms
houses,
c
of
rapid change the"prison discipline of that country: and although checked in 1843-4, it has piogiesse most satisfactory manner since the latter year. Lord i u ara\ e, a
a
ou
period^commenced,
a
one
of his last acts, nominated Dr. Stewart as manager oi ci\i goveri The local authorities, after much discussion with inspectors
of Belfast. .and
others, deemed it desirable that his services as a medical man e should be made available for the good of the public. The obso e regulations prohibiting this were set aside. The change was most bene ficial, and stood out in marked relief with other institutions painfu y reported on by Sir David Barr, when officially visiting the pub ic medical establishments of Ireland in 1841. Earl Fortescue nominated another medical to the Clonmel Asylum. Th gentleman, Dr.
Flynn, wedge was now effectually introduced. Upon a change of government, parties interested in keeping up the exclusion of medical men from their legitimate position, set themselves steadily, but, as the evidence given before parliament proves, stealthily, to work. The then Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Sir Edward Sugden, was enlisted against medica superintendence. His high name, his exalted character, and his pure, unostentatious benevolence, were all arrayed against this simple an humane provision, and in 1843 a code of regulations, under that great man's auspices, was run through the Privy Council of Ireland, wluc
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
87
seemed to close every lunatic asylum, and for ever, against resident Medical superintendence. Monopoly and selfishness knew no bounds to tlieir triumph?their annual local reports and parliamentary documents re-eclioed tlie victory. ?Medical men, alas! for tlie profession?ay, even medical men, put forward tlieir claims to public approbation, for being instrumental in of labour and excluding tlieir own profession from its legitimate field duration: short of ?f nobly did however,
humanity.
The
victory
was,
medical literature vindicate the profession. These regulations were also reviewed in France, Prussia, America?their absurd, the very authors eontradictory, and vicious provisions, were exposed: ?f them at last felt ashamed of their wickedness; the transparent veil "Which covered the designs of their fabrications was torn asunder, and State of finally, the Report of the Lords' Committee, in 1843, on theoverthrow. the Lunatic Poor, laid the foundation for their permanent ?Lord Ashley's Bill, in 1844, became law. None but medical men, her asylums. Sir could, in England, be superintendents of James Graham carried to the working of the Bill the weight of government penalty ^fluence, and the anomalous spectacle was presented of a legal and not heiug attached to any asylum in England having fifty patientsin Ireland, while of in them, and a medical officer residing charge Under the same high functionary, as home secretary, no medical man, of an Irish diseven if he happened to be a manager or civil governor trict lunatic asylum, and as sucli holding office immediately undei Sir James Graham, could administer a dose of castor-oil to a patient within the walls of his asylum! Human absurdity could go no further, and legislative interference Bill became eame quietly to the rcscue. In 1845 a new Lunatic Asylum Dr. White the law; the now parted company. and asylums prisons and from "Was appointed inspector, and in 184G Dr. Nugent was added; this period a new and vigorous spirit has been evoked. In the first number of our Journal, we took the condition of the lunatic asylums in Ireland to task. Change after change has taken place; the old rules and regulations of 1843 have perished, in Carlow, Belfast, Limerick, of their birth, Maryborough, by the cradle and in the even Wonmel, appointment, as vacancies occurred, of resident physicians, or by the extension of their duties to such medical gentlemen as happened to have been but yet more managers. Much has thus been effected, remains behind. under the very eye of the Richmond with 290
the
English
henceforward, having
patients, Asylum, government, in Dublin, has no resident medical officer. Ballinasloe With 300 patients, has no resident medical officer. Cork, with its noble
college,
and its crowd of literary and scientific institutions, has
no
gg
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
resident medical officer for its 420 patients. Neither lias Deny, TV ater nor Armagh. There are omissions in the every-day labours o irliumane executive, which only need be pointed out to lia\ e a reme }
ford,
at
once
applied.
What uniformity of action, of returns, or result, expect from the institutions under its immediate so
unwise,
and
we
will
even
add,
so
barbarous
,
can
go\ernmen
control, if so imper ec system is permitte
,
a
exist in this respect. Neither is it to be supposed for onemomen , with such vigorous intellects as those of Sir aren o George Grey, Lor Sir William and Sir Thomas can remain
,
Somerville,
Redington, things they are, if only the subject be fully and fairly considered m a 1 s ings by them. Let us, then, use all the energies of the pi ess 111 an n^ and all the force which 111 o *e fail e\ never to and justice humanity
,
minds of honest and able men, to carry out the full and fair provisions English system, so far as the remaining non-medical asy urns o Ireland are concerned. All sections of society who wis "\\e 0 lunatic should take up this matter, and give then lieaity an piac ic aid to the good cause. Our columns will be evei open to t ic a v oca of this cause, and we trust ere record the most sa is ac o ) to long results. In the meantime let us cheer on the Iiish inspectors in present arduous labours. They are deserving the fu mee o pu ^ approbation and support, and we cheerfully and at once accor our warm thanks and gratitude on the part of our medical brethren. Having so far touched on the government distiict unatic as) um , remains to say a few words on other establishments c e\ o e , ei 1 wholly or in part, to the insane. Dean Swift, it is \.nown, fine and and of idiots insane for the care improving persons property by the last available return it appears that there were sixty pa\ m ai eighty-two free inmates, but not a particle of information cou c >e gleaned as to its financial arrangements; indeed, in a note to the repor of the lunacy inspectors (page 30) for the year 1816-7, it is state "that the expenditure for the year 1845 could not be ascertame Admitting to the fullest extent that everything is well conducted; it not seemly, in a Blue Book presented by command of her Majcst) to parliament, that by the official organs of the government, so far as lunatic asylums are concerned, such a serious remark, calculatcd to create unpleasant feelings in the public mind, should be made. In the Island Bridge department of the Old House of Industry, Dublin, there appeared from the last return to have been about 329 idiots and lunatics confined, exclusively supported from a parliamentary grant, and which is now in gradual progress of extinction. It is time, in truth, that all lunatics should be placed in suitable institutions, as more m our
well^
.
.
MENTAL DIETETICS.
accordance witli discipline and humanity; tlie extinction, therefore, of this establishment must he hailed as a still further step in advance. The private asylums of Ireland are not numerous nor extensive; there are two in
Cork,
one
in
Armagh, eight
in
Dublin,
one
in
Waterford,
in Limerick, and one in Maryborough; in public confidence they stand high. No complaint appears to have been ever recorded of in011e
justice 111
or
cruelty;
and the
inspectors,
in their annual
Reports, speak
terms of warm approbation of the parties under. whom they are inducted. In conclusion, we have good reason to be satisfied with the progress?f humane treatment towards the lunatics in Ireland; and when the
five new district asylums now ^hen all shall be placed under
in progress of erection are completed; charge of resident medical men of
the
character and efficiency; and when the powers of the inspectors shall have been more fully recognised and consolidated; when, in fact, the
executive will have organized an active system of co-operation between the as yet disjointed members of this department, Ireland may fairly ctaim a high position with regard to her public lunatic establishments anions the other nations of the civilized world.
Am. IV aving taken
-LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
rapid glance at the origin, progress, and present conasylums, in our last number, we turn, with ordinary interest, to consider the subject so far as it relates to the
1
a
lon of our own lunatic
110
Slster
kingdom.
-Bad
have been the legislative provisions for England, matters do have worn a much better aspect in the sister kingdom,
as
seem to
^?ty reference to parliamentary papers, ef?re the Act
ANe
find tliat
we
no
notice
was
of Union, of the condition of the Irish lunatic.
taken, fact,
In
might have supposed that lunatics had no existence in that country. Some provision, indeed, had been made in regard to the county of Cork; but it was too limited in its nature, and so confined in fS ?Peration, that it is almost unnecessary to mention it as an exception 0
the rest of Ireland. In 1801, a Committee of the House of Commons Passed a series of resolutions to the effect that certain acts of
parlia-
ment (27 .
Geo. III.), not having been fully carried out, inasmuch as provisions had been made only in Dublin for 118 lunatics and iotsj in Cork, for 90; in Waterford, for 25; further and more decided
| eb'slation ^edical
became necessary.
act
ause
(known
as
In
1806,
46 Geo. III.
kind of
a
xcv.)
c.
was
half-prison,
passed;
lialf-
its second
empowered a sum, not exceeding 100/. per annum, to be levied or Wards for the reception, in any hospital, &c., of a county, city, or c?unty of a town, of idiots or lunatics. This Act had been found neces" on the grounds, as the committee stated, that, with the exception the four above-named it did not towns, appear that any institution
^
Maintained
f
of
in any
^ie
le
degree at the public reception of such cases."
expense, exists in any This was indeed a sad
state of the lunatic poor of Ireland,
at a
period (1805-6) 5,395,000 souls.
by official returns, amounted to ^opulation, in the m?reover'
and' ^1G ^UUa^c the raost
1806, mainly
Passed
were
distressing
part
of
picture
when her This Act
ground "that the poor houses?a practice from which
on
confined in the same
resulted, the method of confinement malefactors," &c. ? ^ear^ struggle in which Great Britain was then and for many year rendered almost any minor subject distasteful, Until KUbsC(lUently engaged, ,
?n^r fitted
S 16
Co
?Do t
As
i
|
for
some extent freed her homes from the terrors of
t*
181
inconveniences
the
emperor; nothing appears to have been done until in 6 ev^ became so pressing and so enormous, that further ent was As an the Richmond and
'
.
in
impossible.
Dublin,
was
experiment,
empowered g
to receive
2
certain grants from the
;
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
84
1815, accommodation was opened for 200 for as }*et we liave not arrived at the point Even that accommodation appeared almost useless, since,
British treasury; or ratlier
patients,
of separation. in
and,
in
prisoners,
following report was made to Government: three?certainly two?lunatics in one bed in the House of Industry (Dublin). I have seen, I think, not fewer than fifty or sixty persons in one room, of which, I believe, the majority were insane. 181G,
"
the
I have
I have
in the
seen
of which in the
seen
was
occupied by
metropolis
dispassionate
a
bed,
the other
half
pauper." Such was, up to 1817, even the condition of the Irish lunatic.
a sane
of Ireland,
With clear and recorded and
lunatic chained in
same room a
testimony
such
the
as
men, whose characters and
above, given by cool
integrity
were
beyond
suspicion, and whose legitimate influence was very great, it became utterly impossible that such a state of things could longer exist without A Committee of the House of Commons some remedy being applied. was soon after appointed to devise the best means of meeting the evilAn able and comprehensive report (considering the time) was the This document, it is believed, was the production of a man, of result. whom his country may well be proud, (Lord Monteagle,) and whose labours for the improvement of his unfortunate country have been at all times into
steady
and consistent. It was recommended to divide Ireland erect for each district a lunatic asylum, capable of
districts,?to
containing
100
or
150
patients;
the money
requisite
to be advanced from the consolidated fund as a
districts
011
certain conditions,?to
place
these
for the
purpose
loan, repayable by the new
institutions
under the control of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
ex-
In the
clusively first instance, four; then six; and subsequently, ten districts were created, and ten asylums built: officers were appointed by the executive, and boards of superintendence, agreeably to the provisions of the act of parliament, were nominated by succeeding lords lieutenant. In fact, everything appeared to have been done to secure accommodation and care for such lunatics as obtained admission, save one,?that one omission was, that these
asylums
considered rather
prisons than as governors a practising physician in the neighbouring town, was attached. He visited, according to the first regulations, twice a-week, unless when specially called for to accidents were
hospitals. They were, in every instance, or superintendents: one medical officer,
as
placed under civil
disease; in a word, he was often twenty miles away, attending private avocations, when his immediate and pressing attendance might demand his professional duty at the asylum. The inspection of or
sudden
his
these institutions was placed under the prison department; in a word, the afflicted lunatic was looked 011 as a criminal, or an outcast, and treated as such, until recently; as in gaols, the medical attendant paid
85
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
occasional visit.
Endows
were
Leg-locks, restraint-chains, bolts,
and barred
to do the rest.*
supposed
^ was soon found that the accommodation provided in these new asJ huns, and which amounted to 1220, was too limited. The number ?^veiled almost at once up to 2000, while the gaols, to which recent of parliament had facilitated admission, (inasmuch as gaols and Qatic asylums were bundled together by legislative and executive ^sdom,) became so crowded by dangerous lunatics that all order and
*egularity seemed to
ned
be
in gaols amounted
'
notwithstanding
seriously impeded. In 1841, the lunatics conto 110; in 1843, they swelled to 214; and in
the various
the evil, the number
which
causes
might
338, again district asylums were found to be 2603. Ihe following analysis of the lunatic poor of
,,
e
inclusively show their c?uld d0.
condition than present 1
No. 1. No. 2. Pa,upers in DisPaupers in 'ct Asylums. Local Asylums. Males
1348
Fem. 1250
200,3
Fem.
Males
101
214
Gaols. Fem.
Males
190
140
I
to
Ireland may
more
remarks lengthened ?
any J
No. 4.
No. 5.
Wanderingldlots!
Males 778
338
300
supposed
Workhouses.
No. 3. in
be
while the inmates of
increased to
or
Fem. 1102
Lunatics.
About 0000
agreeably
to
Police rations.
1940
Tlius we find that although legislation has done something for lunatic poor of Ireland, excepting those in columns 1, 2, 3, little if
le
au} provision exists for
an
class.
mus^
overwhelming J of this unfortunate ? body
all hands, that owing car^ CXercised admitted, by present inspectors?Messrs. on
the
^
to the
vigilance and Nugent,
White and
patients in column 1 are fully and steadily attended to, both nioral and medical point of view, in such asylums as are provided resident medical officers, and that, so far as it is possible in the
ninS district asylums
foil a
.
C?.m*orts
where such officers do not exist, the wants ?f the inmates are anxiously looked after. But from the
?fficial statements in 1843, it is clear that in local pauper the condition of the lunatic was dreadful in the extreme.
.riUS urns
((
kei r001u *
?
111
Xhe
y-nme lunatics have been confined in the local asylum of Kiltwenty-five males and twenty-four females, with only one colrunon to males and females for dinner. The day I visited
return^ iCOstone ur?edi lor
restraints for one district asylum, year at ?37 3.. 9d.
some
vears
'
ago,
was
officially
86
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
it there were twenty females at dinner in ?were done the males came in and dined."
a
small
wlien tliey
room
At Wexford matters
were as follow :? The state of the local asylum of Wexford is most disgraceful, one patient chained to a wall. He was naked, with a parcel o oose s ra ie about him. He darted forward; and were it not t ia w', checked by a chain which went round his leg, and was as en to the wall by a hook, he would have caught hold o me, a and used another violence; I to went cell, probably 10U?,1 chained, the individual was almost as bad as the other. aT wen another room, I looked around, I heard somebody moaning?-on iey top of a screen I saw two unfortunate lunatics stretched ou trying to warm themselves through the bars of a grating, ie room so dark that I could not see them at first. Such is the recorded evidence of, perhaps, one of the mildest and most amiable' public officers that ever existed?Dr. Francis White, mspec or of prisons and lunatic asylums in 1843. In reference to the condition of lunatics confined in the Irisa w ?i "
_
,
'
_
*
we would wish to drop a veil. The portrait is a tern ) e one Their state cannot, perhaps, be paralleled in savage or civi lze us 01j uc 1'" We have now traced o legislation and the actual condition 0 lunatic poor down to 1841; up to which period tic ns ia an cssen \ lunatic'asylums is intimately interwoven; in fact, forms
houses,
c
of
rapid change the"prison discipline of that country: and although checked in 1843-4, it has piogiesse most satisfactory manner since the latter year. Lord i u ara\ e, a
a
ou
period^commenced,
a
one
of his last acts, nominated Dr. Stewart as manager oi ci\i goveri The local authorities, after much discussion with inspectors
of Belfast. .and
others, deemed it desirable that his services as a medical man e should be made available for the good of the public. The obso e regulations prohibiting this were set aside. The change was most bene ficial, and stood out in marked relief with other institutions painfu y reported on by Sir David Barr, when officially visiting the pub ic medical establishments of Ireland in 1841. Earl Fortescue nominated another medical to the Clonmel Asylum. Th gentleman, Dr.
Flynn, wedge was now effectually introduced. Upon a change of government, parties interested in keeping up the exclusion of medical men from their legitimate position, set themselves steadily, but, as the evidence given before parliament proves, stealthily, to work. The then Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Sir Edward Sugden, was enlisted against medica superintendence. His high name, his exalted character, and his pure, unostentatious benevolence, were all arrayed against this simple an humane provision, and in 1843 a code of regulations, under that great man's auspices, was run through the Privy Council of Ireland, wluc
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
87
seemed to close every lunatic asylum, and for ever, against resident Medical superintendence. Monopoly and selfishness knew no bounds to tlieir triumph?their annual local reports and parliamentary documents re-eclioed tlie victory. ?Medical men, alas! for tlie profession?ay, even medical men, put forward tlieir claims to public approbation, for being instrumental in of labour and excluding tlieir own profession from its legitimate field duration: short of ?f nobly did however,
humanity.
The
victory
was,
medical literature vindicate the profession. These regulations were also reviewed in France, Prussia, America?their absurd, the very authors eontradictory, and vicious provisions, were exposed: ?f them at last felt ashamed of their wickedness; the transparent veil "Which covered the designs of their fabrications was torn asunder, and State of finally, the Report of the Lords' Committee, in 1843, on theoverthrow. the Lunatic Poor, laid the foundation for their permanent ?Lord Ashley's Bill, in 1844, became law. None but medical men, her asylums. Sir could, in England, be superintendents of James Graham carried to the working of the Bill the weight of government penalty ^fluence, and the anomalous spectacle was presented of a legal and not heiug attached to any asylum in England having fifty patientsin Ireland, while of in them, and a medical officer residing charge Under the same high functionary, as home secretary, no medical man, of an Irish diseven if he happened to be a manager or civil governor trict lunatic asylum, and as sucli holding office immediately undei Sir James Graham, could administer a dose of castor-oil to a patient within the walls of his asylum! Human absurdity could go no further, and legislative interference Bill became eame quietly to the rcscue. In 1845 a new Lunatic Asylum Dr. White the law; the now parted company. and asylums prisons and from "Was appointed inspector, and in 184G Dr. Nugent was added; this period a new and vigorous spirit has been evoked. In the first number of our Journal, we took the condition of the lunatic asylums in Ireland to task. Change after change has taken place; the old rules and regulations of 1843 have perished, in Carlow, Belfast, Limerick, of their birth, Maryborough, by the cradle and in the even Wonmel, appointment, as vacancies occurred, of resident physicians, or by the extension of their duties to such medical gentlemen as happened to have been but yet more managers. Much has thus been effected, remains behind. under the very eye of the Richmond with 290
the
English
henceforward, having
patients, Asylum, government, in Dublin, has no resident medical officer. Ballinasloe With 300 patients, has no resident medical officer. Cork, with its noble
college,
and its crowd of literary and scientific institutions, has
no
gg
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN IRELAND.
resident medical officer for its 420 patients. Neither lias Deny, TV ater nor Armagh. There are omissions in the every-day labours o irliumane executive, which only need be pointed out to lia\ e a reme }
ford,
at
once
applied.
What uniformity of action, of returns, or result, expect from the institutions under its immediate so
unwise,
and
we
will
even
add,
so
barbarous
,
can
go\ernmen
control, if so imper ec system is permitte
,
a
exist in this respect. Neither is it to be supposed for onemomen , with such vigorous intellects as those of Sir aren o George Grey, Lor Sir William and Sir Thomas can remain
,
Somerville,
Redington, things they are, if only the subject be fully and fairly considered m a 1 s ings by them. Let us, then, use all the energies of the pi ess 111 an n^ and all the force which 111 o *e fail e\ never to and justice humanity
,
minds of honest and able men, to carry out the full and fair provisions English system, so far as the remaining non-medical asy urns o Ireland are concerned. All sections of society who wis "\\e 0 lunatic should take up this matter, and give then lieaity an piac ic aid to the good cause. Our columns will be evei open to t ic a v oca of this cause, and we trust ere record the most sa is ac o ) to long results. In the meantime let us cheer on the Iiish inspectors in present arduous labours. They are deserving the fu mee o pu ^ approbation and support, and we cheerfully and at once accor our warm thanks and gratitude on the part of our medical brethren. Having so far touched on the government distiict unatic as) um , remains to say a few words on other establishments c e\ o e , ei 1 wholly or in part, to the insane. Dean Swift, it is \.nown, fine and and of idiots insane for the care improving persons property by the last available return it appears that there were sixty pa\ m ai eighty-two free inmates, but not a particle of information cou c >e gleaned as to its financial arrangements; indeed, in a note to the repor of the lunacy inspectors (page 30) for the year 1816-7, it is state "that the expenditure for the year 1845 could not be ascertame Admitting to the fullest extent that everything is well conducted; it not seemly, in a Blue Book presented by command of her Majcst) to parliament, that by the official organs of the government, so far as lunatic asylums are concerned, such a serious remark, calculatcd to create unpleasant feelings in the public mind, should be made. In the Island Bridge department of the Old House of Industry, Dublin, there appeared from the last return to have been about 329 idiots and lunatics confined, exclusively supported from a parliamentary grant, and which is now in gradual progress of extinction. It is time, in truth, that all lunatics should be placed in suitable institutions, as more m our
well^
.
.
MENTAL DIETETICS.
accordance witli discipline and humanity; tlie extinction, therefore, of this establishment must he hailed as a still further step in advance. The private asylums of Ireland are not numerous nor extensive; there are two in
Cork,
one
in
Armagh, eight
in
Dublin,
one
in
Waterford,
in Limerick, and one in Maryborough; in public confidence they stand high. No complaint appears to have been ever recorded of in011e
justice 111
or
cruelty;
and the
inspectors,
in their annual
Reports, speak
terms of warm approbation of the parties under. whom they are inducted. In conclusion, we have good reason to be satisfied with the progress?f humane treatment towards the lunatics in Ireland; and when the
five new district asylums now ^hen all shall be placed under
in progress of erection are completed; charge of resident medical men of
the
character and efficiency; and when the powers of the inspectors shall have been more fully recognised and consolidated; when, in fact, the
executive will have organized an active system of co-operation between the as yet disjointed members of this department, Ireland may fairly ctaim a high position with regard to her public lunatic establishments anions the other nations of the civilized world.
