End of an era

Sunday marked the end of an era at Our Lady’s Hospital in Ennis, on the grounds of the institution had been the site of mass for patients, staff and local people since 1942, a practice that came to an end last weekend.

Fr Jerry Carey was the chief celebrant at the ceremony of transition. “We began with mass in Our Lady’s Church at 3pm on Sunday. Then we took the relics from the altar and took the Blessed Sacrament.
“We lit a lantern from the altar lights in the church at the end of mass and travelled with the light in the lantern, the relics from the altar and the Blessed Sacrament to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Barefield. We proceeded into Barefield Church and had a service of welcome, which concluded with benediction. We were welcomed there by Michael Cloughessy, chairman of Barefield Pastoral Council,” said Fr Carey.
Despite sub-zero temperatures and heavy frost, more than 250 people attended the ceremonies, which lasted just over an hour and a half.
“The church was consecrated back in November 1942, while the statue of Our Lady was erected outside the church in 1957 by the staff of the hospital. The circular stained-glass window was donated to the church in 1962. The former chief psychiatrist donated the new Stations of the Cross in 1964,” Fr Carey explained.
Mass had been celebrated at the church every Sunday at 11.30am. However, the lease term was up this year and there was a cutting of the number of masses in the local parishes. Against this backdrop, the mass at Our Lady’s was the one lost in the parish of Doora Barefield.
The hospital itself closed in 2002 so it is especially timely that after the shutting of the church on the grounds, the Clare Roots Society should select the life and times of Our Lady’s Hospital, Ennis as the topic for its first talk of the year.
The organisation commences its 2010 talks at 8pm on Thursday, January 21 in the Ennis Town Council Civic Rooms.
Local man Eddie Lough will share his knowledge of the history of Our Lady’s Hospital and the collection of records available from there.
When the hospital opened in 1868, it was known as the Ennis District Lunatic Asylum. For 134 years it continued to operate on the same site as a mental hospital and indeed until the 1950s very little changed in the manner in which it was run. It was one of the largest public buildings in Clare and was both a major employer and purchaser of goods from local suppliers.
The archives of Our Lady’s Hospital, Ennis were acquired in 2002 under a joint project with the Mid-Western Health Board.
The collection also holds a large volume of patient admissions forms and with only a 3% loss, these provide a valuable insight into the causes of admission to mental hospitals over nearly a century and a half.