St. Conal's Psychiatric Hospital

St. Conal's Hospital

St. Conal's Hospital and chapel as seen from Letterkenny Town Park
Geography
Location Letterkenny, County Donegal,, Ireland
Organisation
Care system HSE
Hospital type Psychiatric hospital
Services
Emergency department No
History
Founded 1866

St. Conal's Hospital (Irish: Ospidéal Naomh Conaill) is a psychiatric hospital located in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. Situated adjacent to Letterkenny Town Park near Letterkenny University Hospital, it is the only psychiatric hospital located in County Donegal and is considered to be "one of the finest buildings in the country".[1] Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been carried out on inmates here.[2]

Part of the hospital previously housed the Business Department of Letterkenny Institute of Technology. Today the chapel, which was once used by the hospital staff and patients, serves as a café.

History

Letterkenny asylum c. 1900

Construction

The building was designed by architect George Wilkinson, an Englishman employed by the Poor Law Commissioners, in the Victorian neo-Georgian style. The hospital was built in Letterkenny to accommodate 300 patients, 150 male and 150 female. Construction began in 1862. The building was completed in early 1866 at a cost of £37,887.5.3. It was officially opened on June 6, 1866 and was to be known as The Donegal District Lunatic Asylum.

In 1877 the number of patients increased to 308. To meet this demand two wing buildings were erected in 1880. This cost £4,365.0.2. These two wing buildings were joined to the main building in 1895. The hospital chapel was built in the 1930s in the neo-Norman style.

Extension

Patient numbers increased and by 1900 the hospital had a population of 596. It was then deemed necessary to build an extension to the hospital. A separate block was built in 1901 and was complete by 1904 at a cost of £24,000.In 1912 the edifice, or New Building as it is also known, was erected. The hospital's chapel was built in neo-Norman style in the 1930s. At its peak St. Conal's provided accommodation for approximately 800 patients. To cater for these numbers a large staff was needed. In the 1960s nursing staff numbers reached close to 500.[3]

St. Conal's seen from Letterkenny General Hospital

Life

St. Conal's was a largely self-sufficient institution. The hospital farm provided the hospital with potatoes, milk from 60 pedigree cows and meat from its own abattoir. Acres of vegetables were grown in the hospital grounds. The patients were required to do all the farmwork and three wooden sheds were erected near the farm where they took their meals - usually taken out by donkey and cart.

Security

Security was of paramount importance. All doors were locked and windows had slips on them to prevent them from opening more than five inches. A wall of approximately ten feet high and a large set of gates enclosed the hospital and its grounds. The gates were kept locked day and night. The gates which were synonymous with the hospital for over a hundred years were made history when a lorry crashed into them in the 1960s.

Sport

In the late 1950s and 1960s St. Conal's had three soccer teams and one Gaelic football team. In 1964 the hospital won the All-Ireland Hospital's Gaelic Football Championships. They beat Waterford Psychiatric Hospital in the final. The hospital soccer pitch still exists today.

Today

Today the building houses the HSE's dental clinics, physiotherapy units and mental health facilities. There is also a library located in the hospital. There has been much criticism as the new building is in a state of disrepair. Many windows remain smashed and walls are falling in.

Fire

On Monday 27 August 2007, a blaze broke out at the hospital which took fire services approximately four hours to extinguish. The fire was reported to have broken out at 5:45 pm in a downstairs room.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Winds of change at St. Conal's Institution". The Letterkenny and District Christmas Annual (1992 edition), p. 27.
  2. ↑ Scanlon, Cronan (15 May 2015). "Former psychiatric patient protests against electric shock treatment". Archived from the original on 16 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "The History of St. Conal's Hospital". The Letterkenny and District Christmas Annual (1990 edition), p. 16.
  4. ↑ Letterkenny Post, Thursday 30 August 2007.

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