Massive and deteriorated, this black-brick building was formally an Irish asylum that
was opened in the 1800s.
The excessive, colourful decay was too enticing to miss, so on the second day of our recent
trip, we headed onto the spanning grounds to see what remained.
We could spot the property from a mile off as we approached it on the edge of a rural
town.
The black material used to construct the building was typical for asylums in Ireland.
On our first day in the country, we had seen another asylum with identical theming.
To the locals, the historically dark structure seems almost invisible.
Dog walkers passed us by every minute without even glancing at the site, obviously used
to it’s ominous presence.
With the grass being trimmed at the front recently, we decided to head around the rear
side of the mental institution to look for a way inside.
Here, the land was neglected and overgrown, so within minutes we could find multiple opportunities
for entry.
Immediately, we were placed in a room with old design merged with long-term disuse.
There were a consistent amount of spaces like this in the asylum with half walls, some of
which we assume are wards, but others might be offices.
This is one of those places where it has been stripped of items and equipment for many years,
but it’s the history and abandoned look that give it it’s interest.
Therefore, we have to look intently for highlights except for the constant level of idealised
natural decay.
On the lower floors, we sighted some cells where mentally ill patients would have been
held during the unfair treatment of their beings in our past.
Except for these details, we started to see increasing levels of graffiti and vandalism,
so we chose to head upwards, because only the bottom level was boarded up.
Much more light was already creeping in as we ventured upstairs.
Away from the main building, a small T shaped chapel is located, surrounded by flowers.
We were quite interested in gaining access to the small house of God but it deemed impossible.
It was sealed tight.
Luckily, some brief gaps in the stained glass was enough room for us to lift our camera
on the tripod to get a glimpse of the internals of the church.
We could see stained glass windows and pews, but also deliberate damage, which was a pity.
Huge graffiti tags are also dominating the outside of the church, the type that could
be easily cleaned if a slight bit of attention was shown to the property.
The asylum opened it’s doors in the late 1860s, known as a District Lunatic Asylum.
It operated for over 130 years as a mental hospital, being one of the largest public
structures in the county it is based in.
There is an array of darkness hidden under each chipping of paint however, because the
asylum has many issues.
Firstly, it was extremely overcrowded, being described with more than 70 beds in one ward,
with only inches between each bed.
Being highly routinised, the hospital used all types of therapy at the time, such as
electric shock and insulin therapy.
One treatment that wasn’t around was drug therapy, so violent, disturbed patients had
to be restrained physically and abusively.
Now, we are looking at the asylum’s main hall which has recently suffered from a collapse
onto the stage.
This area would have mainly been used as a gathering area, but also the canteen.
It seems that in another era, vibrant colours were painted on the now forgotten walls, having
faded away since it closed in 2002.
Some rooms were unrecognisable, but this space was clearly for the kitchens, where meals
were prepared for the patients and staff.
We wonder what the main hall would have looked like with the amount of patients the asylum
took in, and whether some would have to eat and drink elsewhere, simple because there
wasn’t enough room.
It was somewhere around the second floor that the main reason we had visited the asylum
was beginning to show.
The decay was incredible, and some of the best we have seen so far.
On the bright walls, we could notice every layer of wallpaper that had been rolled on
the peeling walls, as the top layer had come off, revealing the even older layers behind.
When it was open, the hospital was split into two, as males and females were completely
segregated.
From past interviews with workers from roughly the 1940s, apparently the female ward was
much tidier in appearance than the male section.
Only the same genders were allowed to work in each side, so when a female cleaner was
the first to operate in the male end of the asylum, she noticed these differences, with
the female side boasting curtains for example.
In the late 1970s, 30 years before the hospital closed down, a nurse documented that there
were many changes to the asylum that were positive.
According to her, patients were allowed three to four course meals, and to wear their own
clothes.
It seemed that the expansive site was losing it’s past darkness following trends from
other hospitals that would have been more sanitary and friendly places.
As we reached the top floor of the property, we were still searching for stunning decaying
scenes like these.
They weren’t hard to find, as there was a good deal of water seeping in through the
roof, causing the progressive deterioration.
Some parts of the property had been accessed by vandals for a longer period of time than
others.
Pointless graffiti covered the walls in some rooms, from locals that took advantage of
the unguarded asylum neighbouring them.
It was time to take our leave from the huge site.
Finding our exit was actually a lot trickier than expected, but the complex is like a maze
when you have never visited previously.
There are no plans on the mental hospital whatsoever.
Utter neglection has been the reason for the building’s demise but some would say this
is a positive outcome, for a structure that endured so much horror in it’s lifespan.
With the finish of this episode, we also conclude our Ireland trip from Summer 2019.
It is a country with infinite, disregarded history that we hope to visit again in the
future.
In the centre of a city lies a large vacant cinema.
We have been trying to enter the property for years, and when we heard it had opened
up a few months ago, we couldn’t miss out on the original features that are still inside.
Thanks for watching our latest episode.
This was the last bit of footage filmed on our Ireland trip.
You can watch the whole series linked in the description!
See you next time!