Identity Statement
| Title | Conolly Norman Lectures |
| Archive Reference | IE RCPI/CN |
| Web Link to this Entry | https://iar.ie/archive/conolly-norman-lectures |
| Creation Dates | 1905-1907 |
| Level of Description | Fonds (The whole of the records, regardless of form or medium, organically created and/or accumulated and used by a particular person, family, or corporate body in the course of that creator's activities and functions). (Often, but not always, contiguous with an archives ‘collection’ ). |
| Extent Medium | 1 box |
Context
Creator(s): Norman, Conolly, 1853-1908
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Administrative History ↴
Conolly Norman was born 12 March 1853 in Newtown Cunningham, Co. Donegal. He studied medicine in Dublin graduating as a Licentiate of RCPI & RCSI in 1874. From the beginning he specialised in psychiatry, working at the Bethlam Royal Hospital, Monaghan and Castlebar district asylums. In 1886 he was appointed resident medical superintendent to the Richmond district asylum, Dublin, Ireland's largest asylum. During his tenure at the Richmond Norman aimed to transform it from a gloomy prison to a hospital with a humane regime. Discipline was relaxed, occupational activities were increased, patients were allowed individual clothes, diets were improved and wards were refurbished and decorated with pictures and flowers. The grounds of the hospital were opened to the patients on a daily basis, and sports, picnics, and entertainments were organised to relieve the monotony. Norman also worked hard to counter the problems of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in the hospital, he advocated for the care of certain patients in the community and for the specialised care of alcoholics and for the mentally handicapped. Norman was a respected psychiatric clinician, he lectured and published widely. He was editor of the Journal of Mental Science, President of the Medico-Psychological Association of Great Britain and Ireland, Vice President of RCPI and represented the Irish medical profession at international meetings. Norman died at his home in February 1908, and was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery, Dublin. -
Archival History ↴
The typescripts were found with an undated letter, signed [H] Kenny, recording that the notes were found by him when clearing out the house of the 'late Mrs Conolly Norman' and that he is sending them to the recipient of the letter (possibly T P C Kirkpatrick) as 'they might be of interest to students of mental diseases'. -
Immediate Source Acquisition ↴
Donation
Content & Structure
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Scope & Content: Norman, Conolly, 1853-1908 ↴
Typescript accounts of three series of lectures delivered by Conolly Norman to students at the Richmond Asylum on mental disorders and the treatment of the mentally ill. In most of the lectures Norman brings patients from the asylum into the lecture hall and talks to them in front of the class. The three series of lectures were delivered in the spring of 1905, 1906 and 1907.
From the typescripts it seems that Norman employed someone to record the lectures as he was delivering them, including transcribing and/or summarising his conversations with the patients. The typescripts have then by corrected [by Norman] and many have been annotated with the names and case numbers of the patients.
Conditions of Access & Use
| Access Conditions | Access subject to the conditions laid out in the Heritage Centre Access Guidelines. |
| Conditions Governing Reproduction | Copying of archive material is subject to the conditions laid out in the Heritage Centre Copying Guidelines. |
| Creation Dates | 1905-1907 |
| Level of Description | Fonds (The whole of the records, regardless of form or medium, organically created and/or accumulated and used by a particular person, family, or corporate body in the course of that creator's activities and functions). (Often, but not always, contiguous with an archives ‘collection’ ). |
| Extent Medium | 1 box |
| Finding Aids | The collection list is available online. Archive Web Link → |
Allied Materials
There are no Allied Materials
Descriptive Control Area
| Archivist Note | Jane Reidy and Harriet Wheelock |
| Date of Descriptions | January 2018 |