1851 – Infirmaries & War Hospital, Richmond District Asylum, Dublin

The Richmond War Hospital was a 32-bed establishment on the grounds of the large Richmond District Asylum in Dublin which, from 16 June 1916 until 23 December 1919, treated 362 soldiers with shell shock and other mental disorders, of whom more than half were considered to have recovered.

The building was allocated by the asylum’s board of governance for this purpose and was already part of the complex, having been added in 1951 as infirmaries, male and femaile, by William G. Murray. The buildings were separate from the sites of the asylum buildings and included a catholic church.

It admitted only British Expeditionary Force soldiers, that is, those soldiers who had served overseas at the Western Front. The main Richmond Asylum itself, however, admitted non-British Expeditionary Forces – the home troops. The facility was overseen by Gordon Holmes, a pioneering British neurologist, originally from Dublin, who had worked in the war zone and whose efforts deepened the understanding of PTSD. The army paid a generous stipend to the Richmond Asylum for the care of both categories of soldier. The male building is in use as the gym of TU Dublin.