In search of the history of Irish Psychiatric Nursing

Based on a paper given at the Cinderella Services conference at South Bank University, London, in April 2001, this paper explores the origins and development of the asylum system in Ireland, and traces the relationship between the politics and practice of mental health care. The role of the attendants is illuminated in so far as the limited primary source material allows. Although some aspects of the history of Irish mental health services have been subject to scholarship, psychiatric nursing is an area that has not. In particular, very little attention has been paid to the role that attendants and asylum nurses played in the Irish asylum system, especially during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The government constructed an extensive network of asylums and workhouses to deal with the growing numbers of mentally disordered and impoverished people. Irish asylum nurses tended to come from rural stock, and have agricultural skills; they were able to communicate with patients in either English or Gaelic. They were encouraged to impart to patients skills that would permit them to find employment or contribute to the upkeep of the asylum.