Medical charities, medical politics: the Irish dispensary system and the Poor Law, 1836-1872

Abstract

'Should be read by...every specialist in public administration in Ireland and England during the nineteenth century'. - English Historical Review. It was the winner of Choice' Outstanding Academic Book of 1998. In mid-nineteenth-century Ireland there existed a system of medical relief for the poor, via a country-wide system of dispensaries, superior to any public health system in England and arguably in Europe. This book examines the dispensary system and Irish health policy and administration in general, focusing upon the Medical Charities Act of 1851, which placed medical relief under the control of the Irish Poor Law Commission. The Commission's origin, motivation and effect (for example on epidemic control, cholera and famine) are analysed in detail, together with the pre-famine medical charities it replaced and the reorganised poor law system, taking the story through to 1872. The argument is set firmly in the context of the pattern of government growth, of British medical politics as a whole, and of British policy in Ireland; it also shows how the Irish experience influenced developing British policies on health provision. R.D.Cassell is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.