HSTM Webinar Thursday 1 May 2025 @ 1pm.
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Pj-4lUQISoaYQGYyhHSwCA#/registration
Bio:
Helen Doyle is a 4th year PhD student with the History Department at Maynooth University, under the supervision of Dr. Dympna McLoughlin. Her PhD study is examining the impact of the Criminal Lunatic (Ireland) Act 1838 on committal numbers to Irish district lunatic asylums. She is also investigating the link between this legislation and mental health stigma in Ireland today. Helen works as a post-graduate teaching assistant with Maynooth University Academic Writing Support. She is also Secretary of Carlow Historical & Archaeological Society.
Irish District Lunatic Asylums, Institutions of Confinement or Care: The Case of Edward Flynn.
In 1864 Edward Flynn was committed to Clonmel District Lunatic Asylum. The treatment he received while in the asylum became the subject of a government inquiry, and a topic of parliamentary debate in the House of Commons. His story gives insights into the deterioration of the standard of care in district asylums, following the passing of the Criminal Lunatic Act in 1838. This legislation criminalised, and stigmatised the mentally ill, creating a culture of fear, and a belief that those convicted as ‘dangerous lunatics’ should be locked away in asylums for the safety of the public.
Prior to the introduction of this legislation, Ireland had been viewed as a world leader in the care of its lunatic pauper population. The Lunacy (Ireland) Act passed in 1817 and amended in 1821 had resulted in a number of small asylums being built across the country. These asylums embraced the new and pioneering ‘moral treatment’ model of care. However, the introduction of the Criminal Lunatic Act in June 1838, led to unprecedented numbers being committed to these asylums. It became impossible for staff to maintain the high standard of care that had singled out Irish district asylums in their earlier days. This downward spiral continued until by the1950s, Ireland, with a population of less than three million, had over 21,000 people confined in district asylums. The majority were, like Edward Flynn, committed as ‘dangerous lunatics’.