St Patrick's University Hospital

St Patrick's University Hospital (Irish: Ospidéal Ollscoile Naomh Pádraig) is a teaching hospital at Kilmainham in Dublin. It is managed by St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.

For St. Patrick's Hospital in South Africa, see St Patrick's Hospital (Eastern Cape).

St Patrick's University Hospital
St Patrick’s Mental Health Services
St Patrick's University Hospital
Shown in Dublin
Geography
Location	Dublin, Ireland
Coordinates	53.344208°N 6.292592°W / 53.344208; -6.292592
Organisation
Type	Specialist
Affiliated university	Trinity College Dublin
Services
Beds	241
Speciality	Psychiatric Hospital
History
Opened	1747
Links
Lists	Hospitals in the Republic of Ireland

History

The hospital was founded with money bequeathed by the political pamphleteer, Jonathan Swift, following his death as "St. Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles".[1] He was keen that his hospital be situated close to a general hospital because of the links between physical and mental ill-health, so St. Patrick's was built beside Dr Steevens' Hospital. The hospital, which was designed by George Semple, opened in 1747.[2]

In "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift", the poet anticipated his own death:

He gave the little Wealth he had,

To build a House for Fools and Mad:
And shew'd by one satyric Touch,
No Nation wanted it so much:
That Kingdom he hath left his Debtor,

I wish it soon may have a Better.[3]

Swift himself was declared of unsound mind by a Commission of Lunacy in 1742.[4][5] Will Durant said of him: "He went a whole year without uttering a word."[6]

Richard Leeper, who was appointed Resident Medical Superintendent in 1899, introduced a series of important initiatives including providing work and leisure activities for the patients.[7] Norman Moore, who was appointed Resident Medical Superintendent in 1946, introduced occupational therapy, including crafts and farm work to the patients.[7]

After the introduction of deinstitutionalisation in the late 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline.[8][9] In 2008 the hospital announced the expansion of its outpatient services to a series of regional centres across Ireland.[10] A mental health facility for teenagers known as the "Willow Grove Adolescent Inpatient Unit" opened at the hospital in October 2010.[11]

Services

The hospital, which is affiliated with Trinity College Dublin,[12] has 241 inpatient beds.[13]

References

1. Jonathan Swift. Retrieved: 2011-11-23.
2. Elizabeth Malcolm, Swift's Hospital: A History of St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin, 1746-1989 (Dublin, 1989), 32.
3. Verses On The Death Of Dr. Swift, D.S.P.D. Written by Himself Occasioned by reading a Maxim in Rochefoulcault. November 1731.
4. Mental Health History Timeline. Retrieved: 2011-11-23.
5. The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume XLIII, P. 468. 1855.
6. "The Story of Civilization", V.8., 362.
7. Dunne, Bríd D. (28 November 2017). "A case study of the development of occupational therapy at St. Patrick's Hospital Dublin, 1935-1969". Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy. University of Limerick. 46: 31–45. doi:10.1108/IJOT-11-2017-0025.
8. "After the Asylum". Irish Times. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
9. Cotter, Noelle (2009). "Transfer of Care? A Critical Analysis of Post-Release Psychiatric Care for Prisoners in the Cork Region" (PDF). University College Cork. p. 5. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
10. "St Patrick's unveils €300m mental health plan". Irish Times. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
11. "Teen mental health unit opens". Irish Times. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
12. "Courses". Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
13. "St Patrick's University Hospital". St Patrick’s Mental Health Service. Retrieved 6 May 2019.

Further reading

• Malcolm, Elizabeth (1989). Swift's Hospital: A History of St. Patrick's Hospital, Dublin, 1746-1989. Gill & MacMillan. ISBN 978-0717115013.