History of Newry Fever and General Hospital

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Newry Fever Hospital pictured c.1895 long before the Windsor Hill and Rathfriland Road area was developed with suburban villas. Courtesy of Daniel McKevitt

The population of Newry boomed in the 19^th century through increased trade and commerce thanks to the success of Newry Canal, and Newry Port’s status as an international trading hub. With so many people living in such close quarters, however, disease was able to spread more quickly including smallpox, dysentery and scarlet fever.

The Newry Telegraph in October 1836 described a public meeting which was to be held “to consider the propriety and necessity of erecting a new fever hospital, suited to the wants and growing necessities of the Poor of Newry”, that “not fewer than 500 fever cases occur in Newry annually; and that the present accommodations are quite inadequate to meet the destitution and wretchedness of the afflicted poor”.

Published annually, the statements of accounts are now a valuable source of information about many aspects of the running of the General Hospital before the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948. Newry and Mourne Museum Collection

Newry Fever Hospital opened in July 1839 on the Rathfriland Road, after a sum of £800 was raised through public subscription and matched by the Grand Jury of County Down.

With the arrival of the Famine to the area in 1845 the Fever Hospital’s importance could not be understated as the area was heavily affected, and a bad outbreak of typhus lasted until 1849.

The hospital’s vital work continued through the late 19^th century. A Newry Reporter article from January 1872 stated that relief had been provided to 335 patients that year – “151 inmates and 184 out-door patients”. Only eight seriously ill or injured people had died. However, there were concerns about running costs, and subscriptions from the public were insufficient in a city of “15,000 souls…a great number of manufacturers, and wealthy merchants, and well-paid tradesmen”. It was not “a want of will to lessen the amount of human suffering, but a want of the necessary funds”.

Mr Christopher Shortall was appointed Surgeon at Newry General Hospital in 1948. He was already holding the same post at Daisy Hill Hospital and remained in both positions until his early death in 1950. Courtesy of Dr Myles Shortall.

By the end of the 19^th century, subscribers had thankfully increased in number, and cases of fever had lessened considerably.

With the turn of the century, Newry Fever Hospital was renamed Newry General Hospital, and the Mary Savage Ward for Female Incurables was opened to treat women with serious illnesses. An article in the Newry Reporter in October 1909 tells us that the proposed cost for this ward was £64 12p 6d (around £6150 today).

By the 1940s, patient numbers at the Hospital had remained steady throughout the beginning of the 20^th Century, until the effects of World War II could be seen – in 1919, 231 patients had been admitted for treatment and in 1942 this number leapt to 813. Operations carried out tripled during the war years.

These figures are listed in “Newry General Hospital Annual Report and Statement of Accounts” released in March 1947 which gives us some interesting insight into the workings of the hospital during this period. The report also described gifts bestowed on the Hospital, including flowers, fruit, magazines and even cigarettes.

An employee’s contribution scheme was in place, and the weekly sum expected to be contributed was 6d (approximately £1.85 today), and 3d for women and low paid workers. Under this scheme, contributors, their wives and children of school age would receive free medical and surgical treatment in the hospital. With the creation of the Health and Social Care Service in 1948, the contribution scheme was no longer necessary as all healthcare became free at the point of service.

In the following decades, Newry General Hospital became a maternity unit and a facility for elderly patients, and when it finally closed its doors in 1981, there were just 31 staff and 40 patient beds remaining. With the transfer of these to Daisy Hill Hospital, its story concluded but the legacy of the “General” lived on.

This article uses research carried out online in local newspapers by Caitriona McDonnell, a Museum Volunteer.

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