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The Pigeon House Hospital written by Trevor James

The Pigeon House Hospital.

Trevor James

Nowadays, with a large sewage woks on one side and a waste incinerator on the

other, the Pigeon House doesn’t seem the ideal site for a hospital, but if you want an

isolated place to put people who have a deadly infectious disease and who are likely

to arrive by ship, then you can see the advantages.

Cholera was one of the feared infectious diseases in the 1800s. It first appeared in

the UK in the 1830s, probably brought from India by returning military and it swept

through Ireland in 1832. Another epidemic occurred in 1848/9 and a temporary

cholera hospital was established in Pearse Street (or Brunswick street as it was

then). In 1873 the fear of another outbreak of cholera led Dublin’s leading doctors to

recommend that anyone with symptoms of cholera arriving into the port should not

be brought to hospitals in the city but should be treated in a hospital close to the port.

A location on the south wall, about 500 metres before Pigeon House Fort was

recommended.

British Medical Journal 16 Aug 1873

This raised many objections both from the military authorities at Pigeon House Fort

and the residents of Ringsend and Irishtown, so, as an alternative, an eighteen bed

ship -the Prudence-was acquired by the South Dublin Union to be moored in Dublin

bay and act as an isolation facility for any cholera patients arriving at the port. The

cost of acquiring and fitting out the Prudence was £1700 and it was kept at anchor

off the North Wall 3 . However, by the end of the year the threat of cholera seemed to

have passed and the ship had never been used (except for housing a drunken sailor

on one occasion). By 1877 it was still unused although three caretakers were

employed to look after it . Acompany employed to inspect the ship in 1877 found

that it was filthy and had deteriorated significantly. There were proposals to sell it but

the inspectors put its value at only about £100 so it was considered a better option to

retain it, dismiss the caretakers, and keep a handyman on board to maintain it, just in

case of a new epidemic.  The hospital ship remained in the port for the next 25 years, 

apparently kept in good condition despite being used on only a few occasions and never 

for a case of cholera. In fact, the threat of cholera had greatly diminished, and although 

there had been outbreaks throughout Europe it had never reached Ireland since the 1850s.

In 1892 there were outbreaks of cholera in Liverpool and Glasgow and the port

authorities were on high alert but no cases were found here. However, there were

other highly infectious diseases that might be carried in on board ships. Outbreaks

of smallpox and scarlatina had demonstrated the need for an isolation hospital in

Dublin and a site on the Crumlin Road was recommended 6 but this was never acted

on.

In 1900, the Corporation was advised by Dr Flinn, the Local Government Board

Medical Inspector, that the hospital ship “although useful as a means of intercepting

a few seaborne cases of disease is totally unfit for an emergency of any magnitude

that might arise”. He went on to advise that, in view of the fact that cases of bubonic

plague had occurred in Glasgow, the Corporation should immediately equip the old

submarine mining station at the Pigeon House Fort as an isolation hospital. The

Corporation had purchased the Pigeon House Fort in 1897 and in September 1900,

they agreed to the proposal. However, this agreement was rescinded as the threat

of plague diminished and although alternative sites were proposed, all were objected

to and none was proceeded with.

There was a great deal of disagreement among the various interests (ie The Public

Health Committee, the Corporation, the Dublin Sanitary Association) as to the

suitability of the Pigeon House site but matters came to a head in December 1902

when a sailor was diagnosed with smallpox and the hospital ship refused to admit

him. There was also an outbreak of typhus at the time and none of the hospitals had

facilities to isolate him. Eventually he was isolated in the Hardwicke hospital but they

had to close a ward to do so. More cases occurred and this was the impetus that

was needed. The new Pigeon House isolation hospital opened on March 4 th 1903.

When the isolation hospital was opened the hospital ship became redundant and

was sold for scrap for £27.

Within days of its opening the new hospital was full and work was started on new

wards. A letter in the Irish Times from the President of the Royal College of

Surgeons, Sir Lambert Ormsby, describes it as an ideal hospital of its kind, both as

regards situation and equipment. By the 28 th March there were 43 cases being

treated and by the time the outbreak terminated in July 1903, 255 persons had been

treated for smallpox and 33 had died. After this, the hospital thoroughly disinfected

and kept ready in case of a new outbreak. But there were no further outbreaks

except for a short period in 1907 when there were fears of an epidemic of cerebro-

spinal meningitis. and the hospital lay more or less idle until about 1909

It remained virtually unused until about 1909 when it became an agent in the fight

against tuberculosis (TB) which was the big killer in Dublin in the early part of the 20th

century. At that time over 15% of all deaths in Ireland were from tuberculosis (or

consumption as it was also called). In 1907 Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Lord

Lieutenant, had begun a crusade against TB. She established the Women’s National

Health Association of Ireland with the aim of reducing infant mortality and eliminating

TB. In 1909, she persuaded Allan A. Ryan, the son of Thomas Fortune Ryan, one of

America’s richest men, to fund a hospital for the more advanced, though not

hopeless cases of TB. He guaranteed £1,000 annually for five years, so the WNHA

approached Dublin Corporation with a view to obtaining the Pigeon House Road

Hospital. Although at first dubious, the Corporation finally agreed to lease part of the

premises to the Association, at a nominal weekly rent of one shilling a week, but with

the proviso that, if there were a new outbreak of cholera or smallpox, the

tuberculosis patients would be immediately removed.

The new Allan A. Ryan Hospital for Consumption officially opened on 23 August

1910. It consisted of a two-storey red brick building, with accommodation for twenty-

five patients, set in two acres of ground. The patients were to be those who were not

too far advanced and had reasonable prospects of recovery. The male patients

occupied two wards on the ground floor, and the female patients were on the first

floor wards accessed by an external stairs. There was also accommodation for the

nursing staff. There was no effective treatment for TB at that time: the best that

could be done was to create a healthy environment – fresh air and nourishing food.

Since many poor families could not afford nourishing food, this in itself could be a life

saver The average stay of the patients in the hospital was thirteen weeks, and in that

time they achieved an average weight gain of 19lbs.

Allan A Ryan Hospital 1910

Over the next few years the hospital expanded but there remained a pressing need

for places. Legislation on the prevention of tuberculosis was enacted and Dublin

Corporation were required to make provision for treating TB so they agreed to take

over the hospital and use it for their own patients. The Corporation approached

several orders of nuns to request them to provide staff for the running of the hospital.

Having nuns administer hospitals was pretty standard practice at the time and it was

usually the cheaper option or as the Corporation noted it would ‘show a financial

economy in the cost of the nursing staff’. The Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de

Paul responded to the request and agreed to provide four nuns for the Pigeon House

Road Hospital including one sister superior, who would manager the hospital. The

nuns took up duty on 24 October 1918.

Although closed for a short time in 1920 because of lack of funds, the hospital,

renamed as St Catherine’s, continued operating until the mid 1950s. Larry Kelly in

his book The Pigeon House gives a personal account of life (and death) there. By

the 1950s better living conditions and effective treatments had dramatically reduced

the incidence of TB and made the Pigeon House Hospital redundant. It closed its

doors for the last time in August 1955.

Arrangements were made with Cork Street Hospital to provide medical, nursing and

ancillary personnel to staff the new facility.106 The provision was timely as a fresh

outbreak of smallpox occurred infecting sixty-five cases in the first quarter of

1903. The first eleven-cases of this fresh outbreak were treated in the Hardwicke

hospital.

Sources

Irish Independent 5 Sep 1892

Irish Times 5 Nov 1874

Freemans Journal 25 Jul 1874

Dublin Evening Mail 10 May 1877

Dublin Evening Mail 9 Sep 1877

Freeman’s Journal 12 Aug 1896

Freeman’s Journal 4 Sep 1900

Irish Times 7 Sep 1900 page 6

Irish Independent 9 Oct 1903

Irish Times 17 March 1903.