The Lunacy (Ireland) Act 1821 formed the basis of mental health law in Ireland from 1821 until 2015.

Background

Prior to the Lunacy (Ireland) Act, there had been only limited progress with establishing specialist accommodation for the mentally ill in Ireland. The only such facilities were the Eglinton Asylum in

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and the Richmond Asylum in Dublin.

Provisions

The legislation authorised the appointment of a Commission of General Control and Correspondence to have oversight of asylums in Ireland. It also gave powers to the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

to establish and operate publicly funded "district asylums" across the island of Ireland.

Subsequent legislation

Although the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 made some changes relating to Commissioners in Lunacy, the management of the Estates of Lunatics and for the protection of the property of Lunatics in Ireland, aspects of the legislation remained in force until repealed by the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015.

References

{{UK legislation 1821 in British law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1821 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Ireland Legal history of Ireland Mental health legal history of the United Kingdom