About this site
This site was created as part of the World within Walls project which focused on the history of St. Davnet's hospital Monaghan.
This project was funded by the HSE and delivered by Stair: An Irish Public History Company.
Here you will find an archive of digital materials and also an online exhibtion. You will also see a section for Secondary Schools resources, this will bring you to an area with lesson plans videos and more which can be used in the classroom.
Use the above tabs to navigate through these and discover the history of St. Davnet's hospital.
About the World within Walls porject:
World within Walls is a project which aims to remember the histories of St. Davnet’s former psychiatric hospital in Monaghan town. The project is funded by the HSE and is being delivered by Stair: An Irish Public History under the guidance of the HSE steering committee. The committee is comprised of former senior staff, representatives from the local historical society, mental health practitioners and representation from the National Archives of Ireland.
St. Davnet’s was founded in 1869. Catering for Cavan and Monaghan counties, it was one of the many district asylums built throughout Ireland, in the 1800s, to care for those with mental illness. Over its long history, local people and families have been involved with St. Davnet’s in various ways – as patients, as relatives and friends of patients, as staff members and as contractors or suppliers. The site itself, which was in many ways a world within walls, has had a significant impact on the social and economic development of the town. Today, with increasing awareness of mental health and the move towards the provision of mental health services in a community setting, it is fitting that this project takes place to remember and recall the histories of St. Davnet’s in its place and time.