Welcome to the official historic site for St. Mary’s Heritage Society. St. Mary’s was formally known as the Mayo Lunatic Asylum and this website intends to explore the evolution of the facilities through the decades and give educational information and a real look at what life was like in the hospital.
Pre-1860
Prior to the building of the Castlebar Lunatic Asylum, all Mayo Patients were accommodated in Ballinasloe Lunatic Asylum. Ballinasloe served all Connaught. A building at Station Road in Castlebar was used for the incarceration of insane persons. It was known locally as Mad House Hill. This was a long rectangular building that could house 30 or 40 people. The building was close to Spencer Park. It was known officially as...
Read More
1860’s
It was evident to the powers that be that the building of a Lunatic Asylum to accommodate our Mayo patients was a dire necessity and the first shot was fired by the Grand Jury at the spring assizes on the 30th May 1860 with the decision to build a Lunatic Asylum. At a crucial meeting on 18th February 1862, the contract for the building of the Lunatic asylum was awarded...
Read More
