St Patrick's University Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Ollscoile Naomh Pádraig) is a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum. History In t ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. The building, which is bounded by Steeven's Lane to the east, and

Bow Lane West Bow Lane West () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location Bow Lane West runs from Bow Bridge to James's Street along the southern side of St Patrick's University Hospital. Bow Bridge crosses the River Camac. History Bow Lane West first ap ...

to the south, is managed by

St Patrick’s Mental Health Services St. Patrick's Mental Health Services is a mental health organisation in Ireland, with over 700 staff members delivering 12% of the country’s total in-patient care and treatment needs. Services St. Patrick's provides a wide range of treatment prog ...

History

The hospital was founded with money bequeathed by the author,

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

, following his death as "St. Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles". 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 Dr Steevens' Hospital (also called Dr Steevens's Hospital) ( ga, Ospidéal an Dr Steevens), one of Ireland's most distinguished eighteenth-century medical establishments, was located at Kilmainham in Dublin Ireland. It was founded under the terms ...

. The hospital, which was designed by

George Semple George Semple (c. 1700 – 13 April 1782) was a notable Irish builder and architect. Life His earliest known work is the steeple, in height, of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, which he designed and erected in 1749. He also built St Patri ...

, opened in 1747. 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.''

Swift himself was declared of unsound mind by a Commission of Lunacy in 1742.

Will Durant William James Durant (; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work '' The Story of Civilization'', which contains 11 volumes and details the history of eastern a ...

said of him: "He went a whole year without uttering a word." 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. Norman Moore, who was appointed Resident Medical Superintendent in 1946, introduced occupational therapy, including crafts and farm work to the patients. After the introduction of

deinstitutionalisation Deinstitutionalisation (or deinstitutionalization) is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the lat ...

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

Services

The hospital, which is affiliated with

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, has 241 inpatient beds.

History

Services

References

Further reading