In 1845, the Cork Asylum on the Blackrock Road was eventually incorporated into the system of District Lunatic Asylums which the Bord had resisted up to this time. The new arrangement put the status of the Asylum on a statutory base. It was now part of a national system which would, eventually, see 21 asylums constructed across the country. By the late 1840s, criticism of conditions of the Asylum – particularly overcrowding – could no longer be ignored and a decision – after much grumbling about cost – was made to acquire land outside the City, at Shanakeil, to build a new Asylum.
Work commenced in 1848 and by 1852 the new place was ready. It consisted of three separate three stores blocks joined by a single story corridor. It offered accommodation for 500 patients.
But before any patient arrived, it first had to be officially opened. In June 1852, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland – the Earl of Eglinton and his wife did the honors. The occasion was reported in the Cork Examiner of 14th June 1852.
“…. on entering the Lunatic Asylum, their Excellencies minutely inspected the various compartments of the institution and expressed themselves highly pleased with the arrangements that had been made for the health and comfort of the inmates. Their Excellencies were then conducted to the board room, where a sumptuous dinner was laid out. The Chairman proposed, in appropriate and elegant terms the health of their Excellencies and stated, by the direction and concurrence of the committee, he had been instructed to request his Excellency would allow them to add the distinction of his name to the Asylum and that in future it should be called the Eglinton Asylum. His Excellency expressed himself exceedingly gratified by the honour and it was determined that in future the Asylum should bear the name of His Excellency…..”
After all the pomp and ceremony of the opening, the reality of life for the Asylum is recalled by Mrs Henry in her book when she recounts the folk memory handed down through generations of staff of the patients walking across the city in the dead of night from the old Asylum to the new.
The transfer took place between June and September 1852. The Cork Examiner [1st September 1852] tells us that
“..Dr. White [the Inspector of Asylums] is now in Cork, superintending the removal of patients from the old to the Eglinton Asylum…”
Dr Francis White; Inspector of Asylums.
Courtesy Royal College of Surgeons
By November 1852, the transfer was complete. The Freeman’s Journal [12th November] could report..
“..the Ellington Lunatic Asylum for the County and city of Cork is now complete and open for the reception of pauper lunatics. The probable expense of the Asylum, purchase of land etc will be £70,000. A period of 40 years is given for payment. The levy on the city and county [ratepayers] will be about £2000 per annum….”
Staff who transferred from the Old Asylum.
Thomas Power – Physician
Samuel Hobart – Surgeon
William Jones – Apothecary
Rev. CG Clifford – Protestant Chaplain
Rev. P Burton – Catholic Chaplain
Willian Beamish – House Steward
Martha Clifford – Matron
Willian Connell – Clerk
Thomas Whelan – Attendant
Nicholas Beamish – Gatekeeper
Jeremiah Collins – Attendant
Eliza Shaw – Division Head Nurse
Murty Sullivan – Attendant
Ellen O’Keeffe – Division Head Nurse
Catherine Dooley – Assistant Nurse
Anne Campbell – Infirmary Head Nurse
H Browne – Assistant Nurse
Ellen O’Shea – Assistant Nurse. Retired September 1st 1863, aged 70 years. She had 11 years service and was granted a pension of £6.3.1.
1852
Mary Callaghan. Kitchen Assistant. Appointed 6.12.1852
Jeremiah Meaney. Watchman. Appointed 16.11.1852
Denis Sullivan. Fireman. Appointed 16.11.1852
1853
As we might expect, the move from the old Asylum to the new was not without its problems. In September 1853, the Cork Examiner reporting from a meeting of the board of management was outlining the disorganization of the house…
“….Do you remember [asked Mr Beamish, board of management member] the lunatics in the front of the house?’ ‘Yes’ [replied the chairman]. ‘We found two lunatics in the front room without anybody with them. When the keeper came down, his deportment was most disrespectful. We went on and found a door open through which a man escaped who paraded the country in a state of nakedness for several hours. In a door between two wards I asked the superintendent for a key: ‘We never had one’ he said ‘the key was never given’. On calling the man in the next ward, he immediately produced the key’….
But Doctor Power, who was at the meeting, was not going to allow all the blame fall on his staff…
“…with regard [said Power] to the escape of the patients, some of them went over the wall but I have called on the board to have them raised and plastered. Six or seven attendants have been removed from this place for inattention but [says he, fixing the responsibility firmly where it belongs] some irregularity must be admitted for placing the patients in the hands of inexperienced people..”
And we can think of Dr. Power being on the side of his staff
“….. with respect [he continues] to the Keeper said to be disrespectful, it was altogether the man’s manner, who was confused when he was called down. He is a very civil person…”
But the chairman wasn’t finished
“…notwithstanding what had occurred in the yard the other day, I found the keepers talking together, sitting on a bench away from the patients from where the scape took place..”
Power replied
””.it would be too strict to require people not to sit together and talk. I have the resignations of some of them in my hands. All might leave..”
The staff weren’t getting much sympathy
“…so much the better” said Mr Dunscome [board member]?
The Archdeacon reminded the board that
“.. those who had been removed [from duty] were discharged on account of great negligence..”
And there the matter rested with some staff sacked and others given the benefit of the doubt. This exchange would set the scene for ongoing ill-feeling between management and staff that would persist for the next century and a half -not a great start.
Mary Clunan. Appointed 1.1.1853
Catherine Cronin. Assistant Nurse. Appointed 1.3.153. Resigned 1.11.1857
Anne Lenihan. Assistant nurse. Appointed 1.3.1853.
Mary Kelly. Appointed 1.6.1853
Margaret Donnelly. Appointed 9.7.1853. Retired 11th June 1868 at the age of 60. She had served for 14 years and was granted a pension of £5 per annum. She is described as an Assistant Attendant.
William Ring. Messenger. Appointed 12.4.1853. Left 13.8.1857
Thomas Ryan. Tailor. Appointed 21.6.1853
1854
William Clifton. Assistant Attendant. Appointed 10.1.1854
Michael Grace. Appointed 10.12.1854. Left 30.1.1858
Arthus Collins. Appointed 23.12.1854
Michael Kelly. Appointed 10.10.1854. Left 1858
Nicholas Fitzgerald. Appointed 16.11.1854
Margaret O’Connor. Appointed 10.11.1854
May Coughlan. Appointed 14.8.1854. Resigned 24.11.1857
Mary Bennett. Appointed 9.9.1854. Resigned 9.4.1857
1855
If one Lord Lieutenant visiting the Asylum wasn’t exciting enough, a second one visited in 1855. George Howard, Earl of Carlile called on May 5th.
This was a major event in the life of the Asylum. H walked through the entire building and noted that the Asylum might be
“…justly proud and [it is] one of the finest examples of the application of modern science [being] brought to the treatment of the Lunatic..”
Dr Power accompanied him as well as the Inspector of Asylums . Mrs Henry tells us that one hundred years later, his visit was still remembered.
George Howard; 7th Earl of Carlisle; Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1855 – 58, visited the Asylum on 22nd of May 1855.
Staff appointed 1855
John J Duggan. Storekeeper. Appointed 9.6.1855
Michael Clifton. Appointed 16.1.1855. Working in Number 2 Ward in 1857. We know this because he was reported by a patient for drinking and gambling after 10 o’clock at night. This complaint was investigated and he was exonerated (ref. Inspectors Report 1557 p456)
Christopher Dudley; Appointed 9.12.1855
Julia Barrett; Appointed 30.1.1855
Anne Lynch- Appointed 14.6.1855; Resigned 9.4.57
Hannah Duggan Assistant Laundress; Appointed 1.6.1855
Patrick Falvey Cook; Appointed 21.2.1855
Patrick Herlihy White Washer; Appointed 9.6.1855
Christopher Hutchinson Barber