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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Dublin => Topic started by: Jamesshepherdsbush on Monday 05 December 11 13:10 GMT (UK)
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I have just received a death certificate for a Gt Grand Uncle who sadly ended his days at Grangegorman Mental Hospital. Whilst their website is well put together I can't seem to find out if there is any way of accessing his records if they are still in existence. Any clues/ help/ tips would be appreciated
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As far as I know the records are still held on site in Grangegorman Museum ... there was a topic about this recently here on RootsChat - I'll have a search for it and post a link...
Shane
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see : Re: Baptism address - Lunatic Asylum (http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,561659.msg4142968.html#msg4142968)
S.
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Many thanks Shane
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Dont know if it's related, but see that one of your previous posts mentioned the North Dublin Union Workhouse.. the Workhouse, Richmond Asylum / Grangegorman / St. Brendans and a group of hospitals (Richmond, Whitworth & Hardwicke) were all located in the same block of land off North Brunswick Street.
Shane
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Well it's beginning to look like there was a fair bit of lunacy going on in my family in the early 1900's :D
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One of mine (gtgt-grandmother) also died in the Asylum - or R.D.L as it's shown on her cert. Admitted in 1879 for what would now be called depression after the death of her husband.
I'll check what sort of details we found out on her from the Grangegorman records...
S.
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Sad thing is that this one died of heart failure; a bachelor aged 50. So this is the end of the Fitzgerald line for me. I was hoping that the informant may have been a wife but sadly just another "inmate". His home address was Wentworth Place. As this was a tenement building I presume he must just have rented there.
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I dont remember the format of the admission books - but think it was like the records in the Workhouse - i.e. a row across the page with the details for each person. This is the information we found :
name
date of admission, admission number
age, marital status , occupation and home address
name of person that authorized her admission
name of person on medical certificate
disease or disorder
date or discharge or death
denomination & notes
The longer stay patients often had more details recorded as they would also appear in the case books. The name of the doctor turned out to be quite useful as I was able to track him down to the area the the family came from.
Shane
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I too discovered that my grandfather's brother ended his days in Grangegorman and was interested to find out more. I contacted the website and had a nice reply from a guy who had previously worked there and was some sort of curator. He was in touch until earlier this year and now I can't seem to raise him and nor can I get a reply from the Grangegorman website. I will keep persevering as I will be in Dublin in the summer and hope to find out more.
I'd be interested in any updates people might have.
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A John Joseph Fitzgerald and Bridget Monahan
http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?name2fm=bridget&name2l=monahan&namefm=john&namel=fitzgerald&location=&yyfrom=&yyto=&submit=Search&sort=&pageSize=100&diocese=&parish=¢ury=&decade=&ddBfrom=&ddMfrom=&ddDfrom=&mmBfrom=&mmMfrom=&mmDfrom=&yyBfrom=&yyMfrom=&yyDfrom=&ddBto=&ddMto=&ddDto=&mmBto=&mmMto=&mmDto=&yyBto=&yyMto=&yyDto=&locationB=&locationM=&locationD=&member0=&member1=&member2=&member3=&member4=&member5=&member6=&member7=&member8=&member9=&namef0=&namef1=&namef2=&namef3=&namef4=&namef5=&namef6=&namef7=&namef8=&namef9=&namel0=&namel1=&namel2=&namel3=&namel4=&namel5=&namel6=&namel7=&namel8=&namel9=&keyword=&event=
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Earlier this year I was also trying to research a family member who died there in the 1920s, but couldn't get anywhere. I was in contact with a Priest, the former chaplain there, who had a lot of dealings with handling the archives, and the records seem to have been transferred to the National Archives. I've sent several emails to the National Archives just trying to confirm if they had the records, but didn't even get a reply.
I've since seen in the National Archives 2013 Director's Report:
"Grangegorman Hospital Archives: Wellcome Trust project, years 1 and 2
Two grants awarded by the Wellcome Trust in 2012 fund work on the archives of
Grangegorman Hospital. The work is carried out by a project team consisting of an
Archivist, a Conservator, a Project Assistant and a Preservation Assistant. Good progress
was made in the cleaning, arrangement, listing and conservation of the collection by the
end of 2013.
Grangegorman Hospital was founded as the Richmond Asylum in 1814 and became the
largest and most important psychiatric hospital in Ireland. The archives are the most
voluminous collection of hospital archives known in Ireland. We are grateful to the
Wellcome Trust and to the management team in Grangegorman Hospital (St Brendan’s)
for their support."
So, as far as I can ascertain, in the last few years the papers have changed hands and are not accessible at the present time. Hopefully the conservation/cataloging process will be done soon though. (Knowing the National Archives, however, I somehow doubt it).
My only worry is that now that it is in the National Archives far stricter rules will apply in accessing material in terms of protection of privacy, etc. for patients from the 1910s on.
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Thanks BrianOleary85, that sounds about right -I keep hitting blank walls. I am having the same problems. It's really frustrating that nobody even bothers to answer emails. Please keep in touch and let me know if you have any news, I will do likewise. So much for "freedom of information" or maybe I'm wrong and that doesn't exist in Ireland.
REgards
Maria Smyth
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Will do Maria. Thanks for that. I suppose its fair enough that they have to juggle patients' private information with access to historical archives, but it is certainly frustrating when you can't even get a reply to an email!
I'll try and remember to add to this thread again when I hear more about the Grangegorman archives, hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later and I haven't forgotten!
Brian
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Just marking this thread.
I intend to chase up great-uncle James presently .. will keep an eye out here.
regards eadaoin
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Some hits for Grangegorman here
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search-the-archives/
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If anyone is still looking, I have managed to get a relative's records from Richmond District Lunatic Asylum (Grangegorman). They are now held by Phoenix Care Centre.
Not sure if I can post someone's direct email but you can pm me and I can give you details.
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Dear Shane or anyone,
I am trying to find out whether or not a James Henry Farrell passed away while at the Richmond Asylum in Grangegorman around 1912 or in the years soon after. I am not a direct relation and am doing this for academic research purposes, trying to track down the death of a particular Dublin figure. Does anybody know how I could go about finding that information? Thank you.
- Dylan
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Just go to https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp
and fill on as best as possible and Search
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Thank you very much. I will let you know if I find anything. I appreciate it.
- Dylan
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If he married adjust search accordingly.... etc
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Wondering if you had any success in obtaining those Grangegorman records?
If not, you may wish to try this contact (which worked for me). Please note, as the address suggests it will require the submission of a Freedom of Information request:
Freedom of Information Officer
Health Service Executive
224 Conolly Norman House
North Circular Rd
DUBLIN 7, D07 VPT0
I Did have an email address for the person concerned, but after my computer crashed last year, I lost a lot of docs. BUT, I do have an email address for Health Service Executive's FOI section (I think): mh.dncc.hse.ie
I hope this helps.