Explore #2 of the ‘Almost Died Tour’

The first proper explore of our Ireland trip was an absolute beauty…

History (abridged and rewritten from here and here)
Connacht District Lunatic Asylum (latterly known as St Brigid’s Hospital) was one of the earliest of the Irish district asylums, and opened in Ballinasloe Co. Galway in 1833 with an intial capacity of 150. It was designed by William Murray, based on an earlier design by Francis Johnson, and built to an X-shaped “panoptic” layout, with staff and management based in the centre so as to easily monitor the patient wings which radiated outwards.

The asylum was intended for the care of ‘curable lunatics’ and opened in a spirit of optimism and a progressive approach to public health. However, the reality was often much darker – as with nearly all (if not all) Irish asylums it was continually underfunded and overcrowded, with stories of mistreatment and abuse of patients throughout its history.

By 1900 it had 1,165 patients crammed into accomodation then designed to hold only 840. This overcrowding was caused by referrals (which could not legally be refused) from local workhouses keen to offload their most challenging inmates, and from families wishing to emigrate to the USA who feared that any relatives exhibiting abnormal behaviour might jeopardise the application for the entire family.

Towards the end of the twentieth century the asylum became known as St Brigid’s hospital, reflecting an evolution in mental health treatment away from the long-term institutionalisation of patients towards more community-based therapy. The hospital was an acute psychiatric ward with only 22 beds by the time it finally closed in 2013, only months after a €2.8m revamp. The hospital and its grounds have lain disused and increasingly derelict ever since, with little apparent effort by the Health Service Executive to sell or redevelop the site.

Our Explore
At the end of our explore I flew my drone over the site – unfortunately I only had 10 minutes battery life left after other sorties earlier in the day, but managed to grab a couple of quick shots. I’ll show the other two drone photos at the end of the report as I usually try to post my shots roughly in the order I took them, but this one gives an overview of the site’s ‘X’ layout, with the staff HQ in the centre and the laundry section to the right hand side of the shot…
Drone from above aerial Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Once safely inside we were greeted with our first ‘classic’ asylum view of a peeling corridor replete with abandoned wheelchair…
Wheelchair corridor cells Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

wheelchair corridor cells Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

tea cart peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Some peeling paint goodnesss…
peeling paint colours colors Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

deserted corridor peeling paint cells Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

wheel chair peeling paint corridor cells Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

One of the tiny isolation cells…grim.
isolation cell Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

The main reception area…
reception entrance Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

pink room x-ray Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

large mirror broken wallpaper Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

corridor window Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Peeling paint asylum corridor nirvana…
pink and blue corridor ivy peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

pink and blue corridor ivy peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

kitchen Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Bedroom hospital bed Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

purple corridor peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Broken window Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Retro curtains!
retro curtains window Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

pink and blue corridor ivy peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

One of the ward rooms was filled with these old hospital beds…
hospital beds ward Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

decayed room Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Some very colourful and peeling toilets – Mrs X’s favourite shot of mine from here! :O
toilets bathroom pink peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Waiting area Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Corridor hospital bed Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

overgrown broken window ivy Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

when nature takes over ivy overgrown corridor peeling paint Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

peeling paint wall yellow green Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

peeling paint corridor yellow green Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

We ended the explore in the laundry section…
laundry press Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

laundry press Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

washing machines laundry Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

washing machines laundry scale Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Jade having a wash…
Jade Brimfield washing machine Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

We then made our way back off the site and took a few shots of the main entrance through the gates…
main entrance front tower exterior outside Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

front gate exterior external outside Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

…and I’ll leave you with my other drone shots.
From above aerial drone Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

drone DJI Mavic Pro from above panorama Connacht District Lunatic Asylum St Brigid’s Hospital Adam X Urbex Urban Exploration Ireland Ballinasloe Access 2017 Abandoned decay lost forgotten derelict location creepy haunting eerie

Thank you for your stay – I hope you’re feeling better now.
Adam X