The Later History of Irish Mental Hospital Design
I’m covering the Ireland roadtrip I did with @KismetJ last summer in three parts.
Part 1 HERE introduces the roadtrip and covers the first wave of 1830s’ prison-like radial corridor plan asylums.
Part 2 HERE covers the next waves of 1850s’ and 60s’ linear corridor plan asylums - the most widely built.
Part 3 covers late 19th and early 20th century designs as asylums became more efficient, domestic in feel and by some definitions ‘modern’. This includes Ireland’s only two echelon ‘arrow’ plan asylums, and a rare example of a colony plan asylum - the former being popular in Britain, and the latter seldom built. We then look at a later distinctly Irish design which rejected international trends in mental hospital layout.
The Echelon Plan
After the radial and linear corridor plans of the early and mid 19th century, the third distinct generation of Irish asylum design saw the country catching up with more modern approaches in the late 19th century and early 20th, and sometimes even innovating. St. Davnet’s in Monoghan is credited as having been ahead of its game with the implementation of an echelon plan connecting pavilion wards via corridors with a central hall decades before it became popular in Britain. This design innovation hardly got any wider attention until it appeared in England and Wales towards the late 19thC. Ireland eventually caught up by building Holywell Hospital, Antrim and St. Ita’s, Portrane in the broad arrow echelon plan (like High Royds) near the close of the century, all in the more modern Neo-Georgian ‘Queen Anne’ red brick style that we all know and come to associate with asylums, but perhaps a little more gothicly embellished.
The echelon arrow plan was more efficient to connect the asylum's wards and services compared to the corridor plan, due to its long corridors arranged in a V-shape rather than a straight line. These asylums appeared a little more domestic as architectural trends became more understated, yet were still arguably imposing with their signature clock/water towers that many earlier asylums had avoided. Ireland never seemed to build any compact arrow asylums (the tighter-knit evolution of the broad arrow) which became most popular in England and Wales, perhaps due to the political uncertainty in the early 20th century.
The Colony Plan
Whilst Ireland never kept up enough to build a compact arrow plan asylum, it did innovate in other areas. The colony plan of fully detached buildings and villas was popular in mainland Europe and America, but was largely considered too much of a departure from tradition by asylum boards in England. Therefore, it was barely attempted in England for lunatic asylums, although did see a few examples in Scotland. It was adopted in Belfast at the Purdysburn Colony (1906-1913) built by renowned British asylum architect George T. Hine, and was perhaps the last of the traditional bona fide asylums in Ireland. Perhaps it was felt that experimenting with this plan overseas was a safer bet than building one on English turf.
Post-Independence
When Ireland gained independence from 1922, it divulged from British trends in asylum design. Whilst it didn’t build as many in the early 20th century, it appears to not have seen as harsh a U-turn on institutionalisation as England did. It continued to build a small handful of mental institutions into the mid-late 20th century, of varied unique design. Ardee Mental Hospital (1933) was a fittingly pronounced departure from British influence, of local design which returned to a more old-fashioned corridor plan yet with an unusual shape and slightly modernist appearance, giving a sense of going in its own independent direction, whilst being less in tune with international trends.
By the mid-20th century, Ireland was still building a small number of mental institutions, not having made as sharp a U-turn away from them as in England. After Ardee, perhaps only one last large self-sufficient institution was built at Castlerea; St.Patrick’s Hospital which is perhaps a little more conventional in design than Ardee, adopting a pavilion plan connected by outdoor corridors, somewhat like Runwell over the Irish Sea.It was opened in 1939, but quickly changed to a TB sanatorium in 1948 and eventually became a prison. Because of this, we couldn’t visit, and it survives in a fairly disjointed manner.
Gransha Hospital, Londonderry was the last built mental institution in Ireland. It was built upon the site of Londonderry District Lunatic Asylum (1829), of which a small derelict 1905 part survives. When opened in 1960, it was lauded a the first post-war mental institution to be built in the UK, but in reality was a lone hangover from an era moved on from. It used the colony villa plan but in a much more modern style not really congruous with the traditional asylums, even if similar in function. Would have been good to have taken a look but didn’t get a chance.
It is also worth mentioning the ‘mental deficiency colonies’. These were an early 20thC offshoot of the asylums; institutions for people with mental disabilities rather than illnesses. I will cover one of these; Muckamore Abbey, in a future report. They provide a glimpse into what asylums might have looked like if more were built in the 20thC, but technically can’t be considered the same thing.
St. Davnet’s Hospital - Cavan and Monaghan District Lunatic Asylum
Opening in 1869, it perhaps is more at home in Part 2. However, I have included it in Part 3 because as mentioned, this hospital’s design is interesting in that it was an early pioneer, if not the first ever, of the pavillion-echelon plan which would become commonplace in Britain decades later, seen in the next two asylums. It featured several ward blocks connected to a central hall, admin and services, but since the hall, admin and corridors have been demolished, today there is only a rather uninspiring collection of unremarkable ward blocks left.
Did a quick drive to the carpark and got a few shots. Not the most interesting to see in it's modern state, all seemed to be mostly used by the Health Service Executive. Still a historically significant place.
Old map showing the asylum's original layout, with the proto-echelon plan being more apparent.
The central building post-renovation
West end of the central building
North-west pavillion of the hospital, now detatched from the main block
A fine pair of chapels
Superintendent's house built c.1880
1940s' acute block swiflty repurposed for TB
Holywell Hospital - Antrim County Lunatic Asylum
Opened 1899. The first and only one of two of Ireland’s true echelon plan asylums, exhibiting the earlier broad arrow plan seen in High Royds in England. Its admin clock tower also has a distinct air of High Royds about it, which perhaps formed an inspiration. The hospital still has several original wards open to mental health patients today, and still has an air of a functioning asylum about it. Whilst the main building appears to function well and remain cared for, some peripheral areas are looking a little worse for wear. The trust plans to replace the hospital with a new facility nearby, and hence the hospital will be wound down for disuse. So 100% one to watch, if we’re lucky this will be a future favourite.
We arrived at the site and decided to take a walk around the grounds. Its original character and layout are very well preserved, and of all this places on this trip, this was the one that had me most excited. It’s massive, although only had four original wards not helped by the sprawling broad arrow plan. Its main corridor is incredibly long and spans the length of the building. We decided to take a closer look and soon found ourselves in the ridiculously long corridor. Straight away, it was classic asylum stuff, yet looking oddly immaculate. With an air of upbeat liveliness and community, it felt somewhat welcoming for quite an imposing place. We visited a cafe in its centre which is at the lower level of the recreation hall. This was visually uninteresting but retained its original purpose as a dining hall. The recreation hall lies above, yet it seemed locked. I bet it is an absolute stunner though. This was one of those places that really makes you wonder what it’s hiding.
Drone shots by @KismetJ
Admin - too tall to fit into a front-on photo
East chapel with loading area left
West chapel and possible air raid shelter
Recreation hall, with dining hall below
Western chronic block
Peering into a disused boilerhouse or smilar service area
Entering the huge main corridor
Spectacular asylum corridor goodness akin to Whitchurch, Severalls and countless others
Central corridor junction
The lower floor of the recreation hall was once a dining canteen and continues as a cafe
Corridor towards admin
Admin staircase
Admin reception
St. Ita’s Hospital, Portrane
Opened in 1903. Closed around 2013-14 although some wards have been put back into use as HSE offices. The site is home to the National Forensic Hospital; the modern replacement for the Central Mental Hospital ‘criminal’ asylum which opened in 2022.
Like Holywell, this was the second and last broad arrow hospital built in Ireland, but much bigger. In fact it was huge, and can even be described as a sort of ‘double broad arrow’ plan, with a V-shaped corridor on both its northern and southern sides. In this respect, it is unlike any other built in the British Isles.
We were expecting this beast to feel dark and imposing, but when we arrived at the pleasant coastal path in Portrane, we were greeted with what felt more like a glistening seaside retreat. We were free to wander the pleasant exterior and take some photographs, which was a huge tease. A building of this scale must hold all sorts within. One end looked more derelict and crudely boarded than we were expecting, but other parts looked quite carefully maintained. A fairly unbothered chap was wandering around the perimeter at one point, and we think he might have been a guard checking for changes in the exterior. Otherwise, it seemed fairly relaxed here although attempting to gain access would mean a bit of a mission we didn’t have time nor the knowledge for. One day hopefully.
The number of ward buildings is not only many, but they are also massive.
Looking towards admin...
Last edited:
