| History | Motivated by a dearth of specialist orthopaedic facilities to treat the poor children of Dublin, Dr Robert Lafayette Swan opened an orthopaedic hospital in his house on Usher’s Island on Dublin’s quays in 1876. Swan was assisted by his friends Benjamin Journeaux and T.W. Fisher. The hospital had six beds and the care was catered towards children. The children receiving care suffered from club foot, spinal diseases, Genu Valgum, also known as ‘Knock Knee,’ hip disease, and rickets/rachitis. The hospital was completely volunteer based and dependent on donations. Edward Cecil Guinness, Lord Iveagh was one of the early benefactors to the hospital initially donating a sum of £50.
Growing attention for the hospital resulted in an increase in donations, community support, and patients from across Ireland. In 1883, the hospital received £26 from G. R. Goodbody and £20 from John Jameson and many others. The Council of the Dublin Hospital Sunday Fund and the Dublin Corporation both donated £100 and continued to support the hospital with annual donations from then on.
In 1883, the hospital moved to Great Brunswick Street (Pearse Street), expanding to thirty-five beds. Additionally, Dr Swan opened his country house, ‘Delaford’ in Templeogue, to provide six more beds for ‘delicate patients’ who needed the county air.
In 1895, the hospital added a gymnasium, which was important to facilitate the children learning to walk and build muscle.
In 1902, the hospital moved again to 22 Upper Merrion Street into a very large mansion increasing the beds to fifty-six. The hospital then acquired the name ‘The Incorporated Orthopaedic Hospital of Ireland’. To help with the cost of the move, Lord Iveagh donated £1,500 to the hospital in 1908. The gymnasium expanded adding a full-time medical gymnast and a massage therapist. In the same year, the hospital opened a sixteen bed, open-air ward in the garden for children with tubercular bone-disease.
In 1911, the hospital added a school based on the montessori system to provide the children with not only physical but also educational support, as well as the establishment of a ‘School Dental Clinic' to tend to the dental needs of the children.
In 1923, there was an installation of an artificial sunlight lamp in the gymnasium to help treat patients with rickets, which accounted for most of the patients in the hospital at the time.
In 1940, the governors of the hospital purchased a large site, known as 'Blackheath', in the suburb, Clontarf. In 1941, the hospital relocated to this more spacious site. This move out of the city, bringing with it the advantages of fresh air, allowed for more additions in the early 1940s.
In the 1960s, advances in medical science enabled the diagnosis of bone diseases at birth which facilitated earlier intervention and treatment. As a result, the hospital saw a significant decrease in child patient numbers at this time. The hospital then opened its doors to adult patients on 4 April 1972.
In 2009, the hospital moved to a new building at the same site containing more advanced facilities. The hospital is an independent voluntary hospital and known as the Incorporated Hospital of Ireland. In 2024, it continues to provide interdisciplinary rehabilitation services for patients. |