Epilepsy – 19th Century

Throughout history epilepsy has been associated with behavioural and personality disorders, however, it was only in the 19th century along with the rise of industrialisation and the push for standards across medical professionalism, that epilepsy began to be examined closer and the associations that linked epilepsy with mental illness were examined, studied and documented, for…

Brief discussion on Gender, Illness and the Asylum

Patients who were brought to the asylum were not solely brought on the grounds of mental ill health, but sometimes due to physical ailments or a combination of both, according to Dr Heise of the Ballinaslow Asylum 1846, "the patients have been all of a most wretched class, and chiefly affected with chronic disease... the…

David Boyd (Schoolmaster of the Belfast Poor House 1803-1806)

David Boyd was appointed in September 1803 as the Schoolmaster in the Poor House with a  salary of £20 per annum 'and the Fare of the house'. It appears according to the brief records available that reference him, that he was good at what he did and brought with him great improvements to the Poor…