The Mater Infirmorum Hospital, commonly known as The Mater, is an acute hospital in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It provides services to most of North

and South Antrim, reaching as far as

Glengormley Glengormley () is the name of a townland (of 215 acres) and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Glengormley is within the urban area of Newtownabbey and the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It is also situated in the ...

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

and

Newtownabbey Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...

It is managed by the

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT) is a health organisation covering Belfast, Northern Ireland. The trust is one of five new trusts which were created on 1 April 2007 by the then Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safe ...

History

The Mater Infirmorum (''Mother of the Sick'') Hospital has been serving the people of Belfast since it admitted its first patients in premises on the Crumlin Road in Belfast, known as Bedeque House, on 1 November 1883. It was initially founded by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

but has always treated patients without regard to class or creed. Between 1841 and 1891, the population of

dramatically increased from 75,308 to 255,922. In 1895, Dr

Patrick MacAlister Patrick McAlister (1826–1895) was an Irish Roman Catholic Prelate and 24th Lord Bishop of Down and Connor. Education and Priestly Ministry McAlister was born in Bonecastle, parish of Down, and was baptised by Fr Cornelius Denvir (afterwards ...

, the

Bishop of Down and Connor The Bishop of Down and Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick (located in County Down) and the village of Connor (located in County Antrim) in Northern Ireland. The title is still used by the Catholic Chur ...

, arranged for expansion of the Mater Infirmorum Hospital with construction of a new building on Mountview Terrace. The main hospital, which was designed by William Fennell, was officially opened by Sir Robert McConnell,

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 Councillors#UnitedKingdom, councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcomin ...

, on 22 April 1900. The hospital was officially recognised as a university teaching hospital for university students of Queen's University in 1908. In June 1922, the hospital was subjected to an armed attack: the hospital management wrote to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

and

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

seeking protection and the incident did not happen again. A landmine exploded outside the hospital leading to numerous casualties in April 1941 during the

Belfast Blitz The Belfast Blitz consisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties. The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small attack ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A new maternity wing opened in 1945. Much of the fund raising for modernisation of the hospital in the 1950s was carried out by the Young Philanthropists Association. This included the first neuro-psychiatry department which opened in 1952. It was the first hospital in Northern Ireland to treat injured soldiers from the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in October 1969 and became fully integrated into the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

in 1972. A new block, incorporating a new accident and emergency unit, a new out-patients department, a new radiology department, an operating theatre suite and a 35-bed maternity unit, opened at the hospital in 1989. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

the Mater became

's dedicated hospital for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

patients.

References

External links

*
Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority inspection reports
{{authority control Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Teaching hospitals in Northern Ireland Hospital buildings completed in 1900 Hospitals in Belfast Hospitals established in 1883 1883 establishments in Ireland Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland) hospitals