Late 19th-century connections between Irish psychological medicine and the West Riding Asylum,Wakefield,England

Abstract

This paper traces the career trajectories of four Irish doctors – Edward Mazière Courtenay, Oscar Woods, Edward Levinge, and James Wallis – all of whom gained early clinical experience in psychological medicine whilst working at the West Riding Asylum in Wakefield, England, during the 1870s, the era during which this county asylum for paupers aspired to be a “research school” for the study of insanity. An attempt is made to examine whether, as a result of their experiences at Wakefield, these clinicians introduced research practices or any of the innovations of the West Riding Asylum, such as a dedicated pathological laboratory, into the Irish public system of district asylums. The evidence indicates that no such developments occurred in Ireland, despite two of the four clinicians, Courtenay and Woods, achieving positions of considerable authority within the profession on their return to Ireland. Possible reasons for this absence of research in Irish asylums during the latter part of the 19th century are explored.