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While most hospitals evolved from workhouses some towns had cottages hospitals such as Newry General. Dr John Morrison from the Kilmorey Street Hospital in Newry was instrumental in setting up Newry Fever Hospital, later renamed Newry General Hospital on the Rathfriland Road in July 1839. A sum of £800 was raised for the building of the hospital through public subscription and was matched by the Grand Jury of County Down. The hospital depended on fundraising to provide services for those who could not afford to pay, while also accepting private patients. The hospital eventually closed with the opening of the new tower block at Daisy Hill Hospital in 1981.
For much of the life of the hospital it provided numerous other key medical functions including casualty, x-rays, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and maternity. Unless they had reason to go to Daisy Hill or Downe, most mothers in the area had their babies in the Mourne.
Originally the Fever Hospital for Kilkeel Workhouse, Mourne District Hospital opened in 1927. The first medical officer of the new hospital was Dr Fergus Floyd who also performed operations at the hospital in its early days. JC Robb, a senior surgeon at the Downe Hospital also worked at Mourne. One of the earliest Matrons was Sybil Morgan, who was remembered as being an “extremely caring woman” who “made sure everything was kept in perfect order”. Another Matron was Olive Rodgers who worked there in the 1950s.
During the Second World War the hospital provided care for American servicemen, based at Greencastle Aerodrome. The existing facilities were supplemented at that time by a Nissen hut, which were later turned into wards for 44 patients.
Facilities continued to develop with casualty, X-ray, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and maternity services provided, and in the years before its closure, geriatric care. The maternity unit was popular with local parents, with over 250 babies delivered annually. Local GPs played an important part in the running of the hospital, covering night and weekend shifts, which they saw as part of their role as medical professionals in the Kilkeel area.
In the years before its closure it was best known for its geriatric care, with older patients housed in the Nissen huts. Nurse Sean Mc Crorry recalled that “down one side were the beds for the male patients and down the other side was female”.
The hospital was well supported by the local community. In the early 1970s the Friends of Mourne group fundraised to provide additional services for patients.
The last medical officer was Dr Wilma Hanna, who held the post from 1970 until the hospital’s closure in 1996. The completion of the Primary Care Centre in Kilkeel in that year marked the end of an era for health care in south Down and all the health services still being provided at the Mourne Hospital were transferred to the new Centre.
Entry to Caring for the Community: The Development of Medicine in Newry and Mourne is free and the exhibition runs until early September 2023. For further information please contact the Curator at 0330 137 4608.
The Museum is currently offering free tours of the exhibition galleries on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2.00 pm. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museums@nmandd.org for further information.
Please visit our website at www.visitmournemountains.co.uk
