The Hospital was established under the Galway Hospital Act 1892. It had formerly been called the County Galway Infirmary. The newly established Board held its first meeting on 16th August 1892, with subsequent meetings held monthly, subject to a quorum of seven. The number of members required for a quorum was reduced in January 1893 to five. The Board was comprised of 52 members elected from the representatives for the Poor Law Unions of county Galway. The Board of Management was concerned with the management, maintenance and repair, administration and financing of the hospital, including staffing.
The Board reported to the Local Government Board and required its sanction before the implementation of many decisions.
In January 1893 the Hospital could accommodate 35 patients. By 1894 it had accommodation for 60 patients.
From 1906 the establishment and site for a Sanatorium was an ongoing issue for the Board.
When the Poor Law Unions were abolished in 1922, a Galway Board of Health was established to assume responsibility for hospitals, boarded out children and other functions which had previously been administered by the Poor Law Unions.
As the Galway Hospital Board of Management was comprised of representatives of the Unions these changes effectively heralded the Board’s own dissolution. From 1st January 1922 the Hospital was taken over by the Board of Health’s Hospital, Homes and Homes Assistance Committee, it was phased out from 1922 and closed in December 1924.
The Hospital and Dispensaries Committee took charge of the working of the Central Hospital and the Dispensary and Nursing services, paying all salaries, rents and connected running expenses except capital expenditure. ‘The Hospital’s Committee shall be entrusted with the management of and working of the Galway Central Hospital, and of any subsidiary Hospital which may at any time be provided under the Scheme, and also of the Dispensary and Nursing services of the county Galway’ (GC5/1, f128).
Archival History ↴
Official transfer from Galway County Council
Immediate Source Acquisition ↴
Official Transfer
Content & Structure
Scope & Content: Galway Hospital ↴
This collection of archives consists of volumes of minutes of the Board of Management of the Galway Hospital (1892-1922), together with minutes of the Nursing and Dispensary Committees (1913-1922), a Financial Statement Book of Receipt (1918-1922), and a Receipts and Expenditure Ledger (1904-1920).
Appraisal Destruction ↴
Permanent Retention
Arrangement ↴
The collection consists of three categories of records. The principal group or series is the minutes of proceedings of Hospital’s Board of Management meetings (1901-1922), which has been arranged chronologically. The second series contains a volume of minutes of proceedings of a Nursing Committee (1913-1922), and the final item is a receipts and expenditure ledger (1904-1920).
Conditions of Access & Use
Access Conditions
As much of the information in this collection clearly identifies families and individuals researchers are requested, in order to prevent possible distress or embarrassment to near descendants, to sign a disclosure form prior to consulting the records verifying a willingness not to cite specific names in research work.
Some elements of the collection may be closed for a period of time or have restricted access.
Readers are requested to respect such closures.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Bound volumes, photocopying not permitted.
No material may be reproduced from this collection without the written permission of the archivist, and reproductions are subject to the conditions of access.
Murray, P James, Galway, A Medico Social History, Kenny’s Bookshop & Art Galleries Ltd., Galway, c.1996
Notes
Note
This is a shortened version of the original description for this collection. A longer description is available by contacting the Archive directly.
Overall this collection illustrates the various aspects of administration of the Hospital. It should be of interest to administrative, social, medical, and local historians. It should also of value to anyone interested in the history of the training of nursing staff. In addition, as the names of many of the nursing staff are recorded, particularly in the Nursing Committee minutes, it may also be of interest to family historians.
Descriptive Control Area
Archivist Note
Patria McWalter
Rules/Conventions
ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottawa: International Council on Archives, 2000.
