Barry Desmond, the old Mayo hospital and the new one

by Auld Stock

THE County Hospital, Castlebar, which was built at a cost of £100,000, was officially opened and blessed on Thursday, October 20, 1938.

The main contractors were Kennedy, Hull & Co. and the hospital was built in the allotted time and within budget.

The cost of building the hospital seems to be ridiculously low when compared to the cost of building nowadays.

The blessing ceremony was performed by Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, later to become Archbishop of Tuam, a native of Newport.

The official opening ceremony was performed by P.J. Ruttledge, Ballina, Minister for Justice.

Many speakers praised all those who had worked on the new building, remarking their workmanship was of the highest order.

The hospital, which was built on the site of the old county gaol, was designed to trap the sun’s rays at its many angles.

The new hospital had accommodation for 124 beds and the largest number of beds in any of the wards was 12.

The staff of the County Hospital served the people of Mayo in an efficient and courteous manner.

In later years the hospital was known as Mayo General Hospital and was renamed Mayo University Hospital some years ago.

Several extensions have been added to the hospital over the years, and the present building bears little resemblance to the old hospital.

When Barry Desmond, T.D., was Minister for Health, he sanctioned the new hospital on a television programme in Castlebar.

“There are many objections to the sanctioning of the new hospital, but I feel Mayo urgently needs a new hospital and I am pleased to give the project the immediate go-ahead,” he said at the time.

When the new hospital was officially opened, Minister Desmond was not invited to the ceremony and this gave rise to a lot of controversy as it was Mr. Desmond who had officially sanctioned the building of the hospital.

A classic case perhaps of eaten bread being soon forgotten.