Alarming overcrowding at Mayo Asylum

The monthly meeting of the Committee of Management of Castlebar District Lunatic Asylum this week heard that the overcrowding amongst male patients has reached appalling levels. There are currently a total of 853 patients in an asylum designed to house 670 people. The overcrowding has produced turmoil amongst the patients and management say that it is having an adverse impact on those patients who in ordinary circumstances would be likely to recover.

Managing Lunacy: Dr. Catherine Cox, UCD, on the treatment and institutionalisation of the mentally ill in Ireland in 1913/14