Kathleen Kelly fought campaign to bring proper mental health services to town
March 1986
The official opening recently of the new St. Brigids Hospital day care centre for physiatric patients, on the industrial centre in Drogheda, is the realisation of what once seemed an impossible dream for one local woman.
Mrs. Kathleen Kelly, Marian Park, is one of the many people who have fought tirelessly for the establishment of the new centre and the official opening, performed by Mr P Clarke, chief executive of the North Eastern Health Board ‘ had the taste of sweet success about it for her.
A woman not known for her willingness to take ‘no’ for an answer, Mrs. Kelly has been involved in the fight for the new centre for over three years. Her motive is a simple one
Her 31 -year-old son, Dominic, is one of the many peonle who will most benefit from the centre and for too many years he has been one of the people who could not avail of thp facilities it has to offer.
“Dominic has had to travel to St. Brigids, Ardee, almost every day for years. He attended the original day care centre in Yellowbatter and then the centre in Rathmullen before it was found to be unsuitable and closed. He was also one of those people who arrive at Harper House, William Street one morning in 1982 only to find that he could not get in because of protests by local residents.”
It was for Dominic and others like him that Mrs. Kelly and the many who joined in the fight struggled so long for the creation of the new centre in Drogheda. This week she reflected on the long haul and thanked all of those people who made it possible for the dream to become reality.
“I remember how the campaign began on that day at the end of 1982. A minibus full of patients arrived at Harper House for their first day in the centre there. They could not get in because local residents and their representatives were protesting outside. Instead the minibus had to turn around and go to Ardee.
“Many local psychiatric day patients have been attending St. Brigids, Ardee, since then although the new centre in Drogheda has ended that situation. St. Brigids was totally unsuitable for this purpose and they just could not handle the daily arrival of patients from Drogheda Everybody knew that at the time but still the situation was forced.
“We began our campaign to have a day care centre built in Drogheda at a meeting in the
White Horse Hotel on February 3, 1983. The present Mayor, Con O’Brien, was elected chairman and we decided to hold monthly meetings. Among those elected to the committee at that first meeting were Peter Finn, Ben Kinsella, Mrs. Harrison and myself.
“On February 10 the same year the committee met with three representatives from the North Eastern Health Board and they agreed at the time that Drogheda was in need of a proper day care centre. A figure of £60,000 was mentioned at the time. Among the elected representatives at the time were Peter Moore, Con O’Brien and Peter Hughes.
“We began fundraising soon after that meeting with the twin aims of putting pressure on the health board to provide a centre as soon as possible and to provide a back-up service once a centre was built.
“Things moved slowly in 1983 and by September 15 the committee could only report that there was ‘no progress on the day care centre’. We met then with local T.D.s Padraig Faulkner and Michael Bell asking them to write to the health board. They did and with their help and the help of many others who gave of their time and energy we managed to arrive at the day when the new centre on the industrial centre was opened.”
Reflecting on the struggle, Mrs. Kelly feels that the effort was certainly worth the end. “I would not like to have to go through it all again because there were many times that the hassle and the fighting seemed to be just too much to handle. I used to sit down and feel no more than sadness to think that towns like Ardee and Dundalk could have such wonderful facilities for their psychiatric patients while patients in Drogheda had to climb into a minibus and travel to Ardee.
If I was asked to lay blame on anyone or
anything for any of the things that have happened during the fight to establish this new centre then it must be on ignorance. People objected to the centre without really knowing what they were objecting to. There were people who said that ‘weerdos and winos’ would be using the centre and that is just pure stupidity.
“Happily the difficulties were overcome and I think that we can now look back on our achievements with pride and great hope for the future. We worked towards a worthy goal and achieved and there is really no more to be said now than that.”
A major archaeological find, including six skeletons, has been unearthed at the former St Joseph’s Christian Brothers secondary school beside Magdalene Tower, it was rcportcd this week.
A total of six burial sites, pieces of pottery and fragments of floor tiles were dug up at the old Dominican Priory site at Sunday’s Gate.
The skeletons arc believed to date back to between 1220 and 1540 when the Dominicans were based at the historical site.
The find was discovered by building contractors for the St John of Gods. Drumcar. who had purchased the site and were turning it into a day care centre.
The contractors immediately called in the Dublin company Archaeological Development Services Ltd who had eight archaeologists working on the site this week.
Spokesman Andy Halpin described the site as “significant.” He felt detailed examination of the skeletons would reveal vital information about the health, diet and pathology of the Dominican monks and the people of medieval Drogheda.
The find would also give archaeologists some detail about the layout of the priory.
Drogheda historian Moira Corcoran joined wilh Mr Halpin in praising St John of God for ceasing work on the site and calling in the archaeologists. She said she was “very excited” about the find.
Ald Fergus O’Dowd of the Louth Archaeological Society also welcomed the find saying it was imperative that the site was thoroughly investigated.
Bro Edward of the St John of Gods said that development work on the site would be held up for some time until the archaeological dig had finished
The Order wanted to preserve the history of Drogheda, would preserve the facade of the former school building and had also handed Magdalene Tower, part of the Dominican church, over to Drogheda Corporation.
WE MET THEN WITH LOCAL T.D.S PADRAIG FAULKNER AND MICHAEL BELL ASKING THEM TO WRITE TO THE HEALTH BOARD. THEY DID AND WITH THEIR HELP AND THE HELP OF MANY OTHERS WHO GAVE OF THEIR TIME AND ENERGY WE MANAGED TO ARRIVE AT THE DAY WHEN THE NEW CENTRE ON THE INDUSTRIAL CENTRE WAS OPENED
BODIES UNCOVERED AT THE MAGDALENE TOWER SITE May 1991