In today’s episode we are heading back to the Irish asylum that we presented a few weeks
ago.
There is still another building that we didn’t expect to find an access point into, which
is untouched and has lots of artefacts developing dust.
We experience many surprise discoveries in the hospital, including some confidential
remnants that shouldn’t still be inside.
As you know, on our first day in Ireland we spent the entire time at this vacant asylum.
We have already showed the majority of the site in video, and you can find part 1 in
the description, but there was still more to discover, and we still had some daylight
left.
So many buildings reside at the expansive hospital site - a mortuary, a gym and two
churches to name a few - as it was designed so all the necessities were on hand for a
patient to spend their entire lives here, without leaving.
However, although some of them we wouldn’t have minded visiting, a lot of them were inaccessible.
Luckily, the site was full of dog walkers, who didn’t seem to bat an eye at us as we
walked from building to building, searching for an entry point.
Right on the opposite end of the property, we end up at the building we are documenting
in this episode.
We walk around the two storey structure, unsure of what it functioned as, until we suddenly
spot a very obvious way in. Bizarre.
Once we have slipped inside, our first task is working out what the facility once was.
Due to the bottom floor being boarded tight, we begin upstairs immediately noticing the
bright coloured walls, and perfectly natural decay.
Somehow in the suffering structure, the power still functions in many rooms.
As the building is being surrounded by members of the public, we decide to keep the lights
off as much as we can, so we don’t attract much attention.
This hospital structure has already surprised us with the likes of decay and functioning
light fittings, and there is still a long way to go, as the building was constructed
as a long corridor with rooms leading off.
The infirmary beds we have found tell us that this was not the nurses headquarters as we
had presumed, and the physio therapy gym we find next confirms this even more.
The decay in the building was of the minimal amount which is my favourite level of deterioration.
We also noticed the architecture of the hospital was that of some of the older asylums in England
that have been long demolished.
Therefore, we think this will be the closest we come to finding somewhere like them.
With little history available to us online, we have to make assumptions.
In terms of this property, we think it would house patients of an older age.
Our reasoning for this is that there wasn’t any medical equipment inside the structure,
as anyone that would be kept here was staying temporarily until death.
We know the building held patients because of the cell-like rooms we were beginning to
find.
Again, we cannot say exactly when this section of the asylum shut it’s doors, but we can
suggest it was around Christmas time, because of the decorations, in the early stages of
this decade.
The moody colours in this hospital facility allowed us to take some of the favourite photographs
from our trip.
If you wish to see them, check out our Instagram and other social media in the description.
There wasn’t much in the large decaying bay window rooms, but what was left was very
interesting.
It was the little trinkets that made us wonder who had last used them, and how they had ended
up in their lives.
Down one corridor we were set to make our most interesting discovery during this exploration.
The lettering itself makes you ask the question: why were these files left here for anyone
to see, if they contain confidential information about someone’s life.
In categorically arranged boxes, documents and documents sat offering patient reports
from their day to day lives spent inside the asylum.
This appeared to be the ‘male’ room from the labels on the boxes, and the data was
split up between the hospital wings, meaning there was over 300.
'187 psychiatric admissions.'
'Alcohol - started drinking at the age of 24 years. 20-30 cigarettes a day.'
'Look at all the stuff in here. These are all reports.'
'That's from 1984 these ones.'
We think this is one of the most fascinating remnants we have found in any abandoned building,
and we could have spent hours looking over the classified information, some of which
dates back 20 to 30 years.
There wasn’t a massive amount of daylight left, and we were growing increasingly tired
after a very long day of travelling and exploring.
Last but not least, we headed downstairs to the dark setting, because of the wooden boards
that didn’t allow in any light.
Luckily, the power worked here as well, but this part wasn’t nearly as interesting as
upstairs, although there was so much stuff.
When the hospital had closed, they must have stored all the equipment here and it piled
up.
'This is like everything that was in here.'
We noticed that there was a set path between the furniture and items, so we believe that
the asylum attempted to sell a lot of it’s belongings, and people could come through
and buy desired products.
The hospital’s reception nested on the bottom floor, surrounded by the usual religious pictures
that we had seen at almost every abandoned site so far in Ireland.
Nevertheless, it was time to conclude our exploration of the building.
It’s always nice when something that you didn’t even have planned works out.
And this one turned out to be a great success.
We know the larger structure in the asylum site is the Irish equivalent of a listed building,
but as for this smaller one, we don’t know.
It’s future is uncertain but currently it sits silent as a reminder to the country’s
darker times.
Next time.
We are taking a short break from uploading videos from our Irish trip, although there
is still the best to come.
Back in England, we explore two beautiful sites, one of which doesn’t go to plan.
Thanks for watching our latest video.
We now have a website where you can see photographic reports of the abandoned locations we visit,
months before they are posted to YouTube.
Head over to http://urbandoned.co.uk to find out more.
See you next time!