Workhouse records reveal rural Ireland s harsh past irishcentral.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irishcentral.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
What we learn from the Distress Papers in the National Archives rte.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rte.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Public health
National developments in the 18th and 19th centuries
Nineteenth-century movements to improve sanitation occurred simultaneously in several European countries and were built upon foundations laid in the period between 1750 and 1830. From about 1750 the population of Europe increased rapidly, and with this increase came a heightened awareness of the large numbers of infant deaths and of the unsavoury conditions in prisons and in mental institutions.
This period also witnessed the beginning and the rapid growth of hospitals. Hospitals founded in the United Kingdom, as the result of voluntary efforts by private citizens, helped to create a pattern that was to become familiar in public health services. First, a social evil is recognized and studies are undertaken through individual initiative. These efforts mold public opinion and attract governmental attention. Finally, such agitation leads to governmental action.