Back in the summer, Me, @host @sammydoublewhammy and @Cloth Head headed over to Ireland for a weekend, managed to see a couple of nice Asylums which I've previously done reports on and some tasty Industry, on the way back to the Airport we headed for St Ita's Psychiatric Hospital.
Taking a long walk along a coastal path we found ourselves on site of this huge complex, It was clear quite a few parts were already converted, some were still live and some were building sites, to top it off there were plenty of people knocking about. So we set to blending in and headed for the derpiest looking sections, past security just sat randomly in cars looking after the plant machinery and after a while managed to find a way in.
To be fair I didn't think this warranted a report as we barely scratched the surface, but I'll chuck some up anyhow, every time we thought we were getting somewhere we would hit locked doors or a live section making it a nightmare to navigate around, eventually we ran out of time and had to head to the airport - I'm sure there's plenty to see here for anyone who might be heading over any time soon, there's quite a few derelict sections worth looking at that we didn't have time for.
Some history........
Building commenced in 1895 on Portrane Lunatic Asylum, It was the most expensive building in Ireland paid for by the British Government having an initial budget of £200,000 but this rose to £300,000 by the time it was finally completed
The facility was seen as being at the forefront of mental health care when it was opened in 1903 with a capacity of 1,200 beds.
The hospital was divided between men and women, and then it was further divided into four further sections depending on a the severity of the mental illness involved.
In it's heyday St. Ita's operated effectively as a self-sufficient mini-town and was looked upon as a 'model' for the care of the mentally ill. Surrounded by 300 acres of farm-land and housing 2 churches, a bakery, a butcher, a tailor, a hairdresser and even a shoe repair service, this hive of industry even had its own fire station, morgue and graveyard. Food for the then 1600 patients and over 300 live-in staff was prepared and cooked in huge on-site kitchens with some of its vegetables grown in the extensive gardens on the campus. Laundry facilities required a staff of seventeen with as many patients also working on a part-time in this area.
Pics...........
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Taking a long walk along a coastal path we found ourselves on site of this huge complex, It was clear quite a few parts were already converted, some were still live and some were building sites, to top it off there were plenty of people knocking about. So we set to blending in and headed for the derpiest looking sections, past security just sat randomly in cars looking after the plant machinery and after a while managed to find a way in.
To be fair I didn't think this warranted a report as we barely scratched the surface, but I'll chuck some up anyhow, every time we thought we were getting somewhere we would hit locked doors or a live section making it a nightmare to navigate around, eventually we ran out of time and had to head to the airport - I'm sure there's plenty to see here for anyone who might be heading over any time soon, there's quite a few derelict sections worth looking at that we didn't have time for.
Some history........
Building commenced in 1895 on Portrane Lunatic Asylum, It was the most expensive building in Ireland paid for by the British Government having an initial budget of £200,000 but this rose to £300,000 by the time it was finally completed
The facility was seen as being at the forefront of mental health care when it was opened in 1903 with a capacity of 1,200 beds.
The hospital was divided between men and women, and then it was further divided into four further sections depending on a the severity of the mental illness involved.
In it's heyday St. Ita's operated effectively as a self-sufficient mini-town and was looked upon as a 'model' for the care of the mentally ill. Surrounded by 300 acres of farm-land and housing 2 churches, a bakery, a butcher, a tailor, a hairdresser and even a shoe repair service, this hive of industry even had its own fire station, morgue and graveyard. Food for the then 1600 patients and over 300 live-in staff was prepared and cooked in huge on-site kitchens with some of its vegetables grown in the extensive gardens on the campus. Laundry facilities required a staff of seventeen with as many patients also working on a part-time in this area.
Pics...........
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