Prisoner or Patient? The Official Debate on the Criminal Lunatic in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

Abstract

Nineteenth-century Ireland was colonized and strictly controlled from Britain. In this highly regulated society, reports of the Inspectorate of Lunacy in Ireland were used to express an official medical view on criminal lunacy. This view was based on experiences gained in the Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum for Ireland, opened at Dundrum in 1850. This paper will examine some of the ideas expressed in these reports, including views on the treatment of criminal lunatics, on their potential for dangerous behaviour, and on emigration as a form of after-care.