Conolly Norman Explained

Conolly Norman (12 March 1853 – 23 February 1908[1]) was an Irish alienist, or psychiatrist, of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the Resident Medical Superintendent of a number of district asylums, most notably Ireland's largest asylum, the Richmond District Lunatic Asylum, now known as St. Brendan's Hospital.

Early life

Norman was born on 12 March 1853 at All Saints' Glebe, Newtown Cunningham, County Donegal, Ireland. The fifth child of six boys, his father, Hugh Norman, was the rector of All Saints' and later of Barnhill.[2] His family were prominent[3] and politically active in Derry with several members serving as mayor of Derry. Two members of his family were also elected to parliament.[1]

Medical education

Educated at home due to his fragile health as a child, at the age of seventeen Norman began his medical studies at Trinity College, Dublin, the Carmichael Medical School, and the Richmond Surgical Hospital, gaining a M.D.[1] [4] In 1874 he became a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1878 and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1890.[2] [4]

Early career

After he graduated in 1874, Norman immediately took up a post as an assistant medical officer in the Monaghan District Lunatic Asylum. He remained in that post until 1880 when he joined the staff of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London where he worked under the prominent English alienist Sir George Savage.[1] [3] Returning to Ireland in 1882 he was appointed the Resident Medical Superintendent of Castlebar District Lunatic Asylum in Co. Mayo.[1] [3] [4] He remained there until 1885 when he was appointed Resident Medical Superintendent of the Monaghan Asylum.[1] In 1886, he was appointed by the Lord Lieutenant as Resident Medical Superintendent to Ireland's largest asylum, the Richmond District Lunatic Asylum.[3] He would remain in this last post until his death in 1908 at the age of fifty-five.

Richmond District Lunatic Asylum

While the Richmond asylum prior to Norman's arrival has been described as primitive and prisonlike[1] this is perhaps to overlook the international praise that his predecessor, John Lalor had received, particularly in regard to his educational initiatives in establishing a national school for the patients in the grounds of the hospital.[5] In any case, by 1904, Connolly could assert like a growing number of reforming alienists, that Emil Kraepelin's dementia praecox (a concept intimately linked with schizophrenia) was not incurable.[6]

Publications

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Dictionary of National Biography: Neil-Young . Lee . Sir Sidney . 20–21 . 1912 .
  2. Book: Reynolds, Joseph. Grangegorman : psychiatric care in Dublin since 1815. 1992. Institute of Public Administration in association with Eastern Health Board. Dublin, Ireland. 1-872002-61-7. 152.
  3. Book: Finnane, Mark. Insanity and the insane in post-famine Ireland. 1981. Croom Helm. London. 0-7099-0402-9. 219–20.
  4. Anon.. Obituary: Conolly Norman. British Medical Journal. 29 February 1908. 1. 2461. 541. 2436034.
  5. Book: Robins, Joseph. Fools and mad : a history of the insane in Ireland. 1986. Institute of Public Administration. Dublin, Ireland. 0-906980-46-1. 137–38. 1. publ..
  6. (1904). 'Dementia Praecox'. The British Medical Journal. 2(2285): 972–76.

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