“…there is hardly a parish of any considerable extent in which there may not be found some unfortunate human creature who, if his il-treatment has made him phrenetic, is chained in the cellar or garret of a Work-house, fastened to the leg of a table, tied to a post in an out-house, or perhaps shut up in an uninhabited ruin; or, if his lunacy be inoffensive, left to ramble, half-naked, half-starved, through the streets and highways, teased by the scoff and jest of all that is vulgar, ignorant or unfeeling.” Such was the plight of insane poor in 18th century Britain and Ireland when mental illness was shrouded by ignorance, fear, superstition and religious interpretations, (afflictions by God); the treatment of those afflicted with so-called ‘madness’ notoriously hideous and cruel. Early 19th century Ireland had virtually no public or state provision for people deemed to be mad or insane. Without family support, the fate of the insane poor was left to the charity of the hum
ON August 13th 1958 it was publicly announced that the Belfast Corporation had finally agreed after discussions and proposals dating back to 1937, to take over responsibility for Shankill cemetery and its maintenance. It was decided to ‘transform it from a cemetery’ into a “quiet garden” with seating, spacious lawns and flower beds.
AT the turn of the century in 1901 Belfast’s population was approximately 349,000, increasing to almost 387,000 by 1911. A third of its workforce was employed in manufacturing, dominated by three industries -– linen, shipbuilding and engineering.
BY the mid-19th century Belfast had become known as ‘Linenopolis’ – the centre of Ireland’s linen industry. Between 1873 and 1914, it was the biggest linen manufacturer in the world, which in turn drove its enormous population growth from 100,000 in 1850 to 385,000 by 1911. These facts appear as a remarkable story of economic and industrial success but the human cost was social decay and dehumanisation of generations of mill workers whose life’s blood and state of servitude were harnessed and exploited to make it all happen.
THE mid-nineteenth century witnessed the development and acceleration of the sanitary reform movement in Belfast. This was led by dynamic pioneering individuals within the medical provision such as Dr A.G. Malcolm with his ground breaking research and reports in 1848 and 1852 for the Belfast Social Inquiry Society on the ‘Sanitary State of Belfast.’