Background

As the population grew in Dublin city in the 1600s, there was no organised system to also care for the growing numbers of sick and disabled inhabitants.^[4] Many of them lived in miserable conditions and had to compete with able-bodied beggars whose numbers grew considerably when rural workers migrated to the city during periods of crop failure. In 1699, Doctor Thomas Molyneaux approached Dublin Corporation with a proposal to build a hospital, using the sum of £2,000 which had been gifted by an anonymous donor for that purpose.^[5][6]

Molyneaux was already a fellow of the College of Physicians at this stage, and subsequently became its president in 1701. His proposal ultimately failed however, but may have motivated Richard Steevens, who succeeded Molyneux as president of the College in 1703, to bequeath his estate to found a hospital.^[5] Steevens had studied medicine, spending some time in Leiden, and upon returning to Dublin had established a very successful medical practice, accumulating great wealth in the process.^[7] He was appointed Professor of Medicine at Trinity College in September 1710, but died relatively soon afterwards on 15 December 1710.^[7]

Foundation and design

Steevens stipulated in his will that his unmarried sister Madame Grizell Steevens was to have the benefit of his property during her lifetime.^[7][8] The income was from an estate in County Westmeath and King's County which gave her £600 per annum for her life. After her death, the proceeds were to be used by nominated trustees to "build or cause to be built or otherwise provide one proper Place or Building within the City of Dublin for an Hospitall for maintaining and curing from time to time such sick and wounded persons whose Distempers and Wounds are curable".^[7]

Grizell was 56 when her brother died and she decided that his plan for a hospital should be implemented as soon as possible rather than waiting until her death. Her brother's personal friend and trustee, Thomas Proby, who was surgeon-general of the army at the time, encouraged her in this regard. One condition that she attached to her donation, however, was that she should be allowed to live there, which she did for the rest of her life, living in a room at the front of the hospital until her death at the age of 93.^[9][10] In August 1717, she executed a deed appointing 14 trustees to begin the planning and building of the hospital and gave them £2,000 for the purpose.^[11] A fortnight later, the trustees met for the first time and agreed to purchase about three and a half acres of land lying at the end of James's Street for £600.^[11] The land was delineated in a survey carried out by Gabriel Stokes, great grandfather of the famous physician William Stokes.^[11] It was considered ideal as a site for a hospital, situated as it was on green fields sloping down to the banks of the River Liffey, with fields also separating it from the grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham completed some decades prior.^[11]

Thomas Burgh, Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Fortifications in Ireland, was one of the appointed trustees in the project and also assumed the role of architect and superintendent.^[12][11] The stone used in the building of the hospital came from a quarry situated north of the Liffey owned by Thomas Proby. The material was supplied by Proby without cost, the only charge being for transportation. Burgh similarly planned and supervised the building of the hospital without fee or reward.^[11]

Burgh's plans for the hospital were influenced by the architecture of late-seventeenth century English houses such as Clarendon House and also the design of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, which was built in the 1680s as a home for old and disabled soldiers. The courtyard plan was commonly used in the design of seventeenth century European hospitals such as St Thomas' Hospital.^[13] The arches of the courtyard form a sort of cloister all around, with peculiar attic windows that cut across the intersection of the roofs at each corner.^[14]

One of the first priorities of the trustees was to build a road, now known as Steeven's Lane (Irish: Lána Steevens),^[15] running downhill from James's Street to the site.^[13] The trustees continued the road to the river across land which they acquired on lease from Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston. However, they did not obtain Temple's formal agreement to this arrangement and when the lease expired, the governors of the hospital found themselves involved in an expensive legal action.^[16]

The trustees also successfully petitioned Dublin Corporation for permission to establish a ferry across the river at the end of the lane, which remained a steady source of income for the hospital throughout the eighteenth century.^[16] The site of the ferry can be seen marked on John Rocque's 1756 map, "An Exact Survey of the City and Suburbs of Dublin".^[17] The ferry finally ceased to function after the construction of King's Bridge, now named Seán Heuston Bridge, in 1827.^[16]

Madam Steevens

Steevens was often to be seen walking the grounds closely veiled, which led to speculation among the local Dublin populace, that she had a face like the snout of a pig, and that for the shame she would not let it be seen. This unpleasant appearance was said to be the result of a curse consequent to a petulant and unfeeling remark made by Steevens' mother when pestered by the importunities of a beggar woman, with a baby at her breast, and a tribe of children at her heels.^[9] Mrs. Steevens' said "Get away, you are like an old sow, with a litter of bonhams". The beggar retorted with the wish that the lady's next child might be like the animal to which she had been compared.^[18] Grizell often sat at a window in the hospital; some stories suggested she hid her face behind a curtain; others that she sat in full public view in order to show that her face was perfectly normal.^[19] According to Malcolm, Dubliners "always called it" Madam Steevens Hospital as a result.^[9][12]

Edward Worth Library

In 1732, Edward Worth, one of the most eminent Dublin physicians of his day, died and bequeathed to Steevens' Hospital £1,000 and his library, then valued at £5,000, together with £100 for fitting it up. The hospital built a specially designed room to house the Edward Worth Library, where it remains to this day under updated protective conditions.^[21] The bookshelves, panelling, wainscotting and Corinthian columns in the library were constructed by the carpenter Hugh Wilson while the glazing was carried out by Francis Godfrey.^[22]

19th century and beyond

In 1803, in the run-up to Robert Emmet's rebellion, the victims of a powerful explosion at his ammunition depot in Patrick Street were brought to the hospital. They included Darby Byrne and one of the Keenans, who were blown up at the time of the explosion and died in the hospital afterwards.^[23]

In 1857 the Dublin School of Medicine was transferred to Dr. Steevens' Hospital and renamed Steevens' Hospital Medical College.^[24] The hospital closed in 1987^[25] and subsequently became the administrative headquarters of the Health Service Executive.^[26]

Four soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment are buried alongside two Irish Volunteers in the hospital grounds, all casualties of the 1916 Easter Rising.^[27]