This book is a collection of studies on mental health services in Ireland, from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day. In addition to an analysis of overall trends in patient numbers and an exploration of the development of mental health law on the island of Ireland (North and South), there are studies on individual hospitals. These include: the famous nursing strike at Monaghan Asylum in 1919, when a red flag was raised over the building * extracts from Speedwell, a hospital newsletter, showing the social and sporting life at Holywell Hospital during the 1960s * an exploration of diseases, such as beriberi and tuberculosis at Dundrum and Richmond in the 1890s * the legal action taken by the Belfast Asylum against the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the 1860s to avoid appointing chaplains * the problems encountered by doctors in Ballinasloe Asylum as they tried to exert their authority over the Governors * the experiences of Irish emigrants who found themselves in asylums