Emaciated, Exhausted, and Excited: The Bodies and Minds of the Irish in Late Nineteenth-Century Lancashire Asylums

Abstract

Drawing on asylum reception orders, casebooks and annual reports, as well as County Council notebooks recording the settlement of Irish patients, this article examines a deeply traumatic and enduring aspect of the Irish migration experience, the confinement of large numbers of Irish migrants in the Lancashire asylum system between the 1850s and the 1880s. This period saw a massive influx of impoverished Irish into the county, particularly in the post-Famine years. Asylum superintendents commented on the impact of Irish patients in terms of resulting management problems in what became, soon after their establishment, overcrowded and overstretched asylums. The article examines descriptions of Irish patients, many of whom were admitted in a poor state of health. They were also depicted as violent and difficult to manage, though reporting of this may have been swayed by anti-Irish sentiment. The article suggests that a hardening of attitudes took place in the 1870s and 1880s, when theories of degeneration took hold and the Irish in Ireland exhibited exceptionally high rates of institutionalization. It points to continuities across this period: the ongoing association between mental illness and migration long after the massive Famine influx had abated, and claims that the Irish, at one and the same time referred to as volatile and vulnerable, were particularly susceptible to the challenges of urban life, marked by their intemperance, liability to general paralysis, turbulence and immorality. Asylum superintendents also noted the relative isolation of the Irish, which led to their long-term incarceration. The article suggests that commentary about Irish asylum patients provides traction in considering broader perceptions of the Irish body, mobility and Irishness in nineteenth-century England, and a deeper understanding of institutionalization.This case (an Irishman who, after an injury to the head from a gunshot wound received during the Indian mutiny, had annihilated his reason by excessive drinking) was a typical case of a class which is unfortunately very numerous in this Asylum, in which a condition of extreme bodily and mental weakness is combined with the most bellicose propensities. 1 Over the course of the last two centuries Irish people have been depicted as particularly prone to mental illness, associated in the late twentieth century with high rates of depression and schizophrenia, alcohol and drug-related conditions, and psychiatric hospital admissions. 2 High rates of mental breakdown have been observed in both the Irish who remained at home and those who migrated overseas. While historical scholarship has produced an impressive volume of research and literature on the experiences of Irish migrants and the "Irish problem" in nineteenth-century Britain, 3 it is only recently that this has come to focus on what one historian of Irish psychiatry has described as one of the "most traumatic aspects" of Irish migration, the high incidence of mental breakdown and

Children, poverty and mental health in rural and urban England (1850–1907)

“…The rapid rate of industrialisation meant that poverty was acutely felt both in the city but also in the rural areas of the county and as such the demand for pauper lunatic provision was high and diverse. The pressures on asylum space in Lancashire were further magnified by the large number of Irish migrants who came to England following the famine of 1845-7 (Cox et al, 2012;Cox et al, 2013;Cox and Marland, 2015). Finally, the Three Counties Asylum catered for the needs of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire.…”

Perceptions of the mentally ill Irish population during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

“…For example, in 1886 and 1870 local press reports in Lancashire discussed the "Irish problem", a widely-held assumption that Irish authorities exported its mentallyill population to the North-West of England in order to pass the responsibility of "ould Ireland's demented children" to regional asylums 11 . An analysis of nineteenth-century British asylum casebooks demonstrates anti-Irish sentiments were evident as Irish patients became stigmatised 12 . "Bad Irish character" was referenced with Irish patients being portrayed as volatile, aggressive, criminal, illdisciplined and in need of strict management from asylum staff 13 .…”

Anecdotes to the life and times of Sir Richard Owen (1804–1892) in Lancaster

“…The lucrative traffic bringing casks of coffee and cocoa, sugar, palm oil, bales of cotton and timber to one of England's major ports, declined from 42 ships the previous year to 17 by 1804. 22 Nevertheless, the industrialisation of Great Britain and, according to Cox (2012), and the further increase in immigration of the Irish after the potato famine in later years fuelled Lancaster's population growth during the nineteenth century. 23,24 Cholera's arrival in Lancaster via the trade routes coincided with the rapid increase in population, inadequacies in medical care, poor standards of sanitation and poor water supply.…”

“…22 Nevertheless, the industrialisation of Great Britain and, according to Cox (2012), and the further increase in immigration of the Irish after the potato famine in later years fuelled Lancaster's population growth during the nineteenth century. 23,24 Cholera's arrival in Lancaster via the trade routes coincided with the rapid increase in population, inadequacies in medical care, poor standards of sanitation and poor water supply. 20,25 The Lancaster Street Improvement Act of 1824 and the efforts of David Campbell (1749-1832), a local physician best known for his work on the 1784 typhus outbreak, was aimed at installing sewers and keeping the town's streets clean.…”