St. James's Hospital

St. James's Hospital(SJH;Irish: Ospidéal Naomh Séamas) is the largest university teaching hospital in Dublin, Ireland. Its academic partner is the University of Dublin, Trinity College. The Trinity Centre was opened in 1994 and it incorporates the clinical departments of Trinity's Medical School, Unit for Dietetics and Nutrition, Nursing School and the library of the Faculty of Health Sciences, as well as the William Stokes Postgraduate Centre.

History

Dublin Corporation paid £300 in 1603 for a foundation stone for a poorhouse on the site now occupied by the hospital.

The war between William III and James II intervened and work was abandoned until 1703, when Mary, Duchess of Ormonde, wife of James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde laid the stone.

Several distinguished citizens served on the board of the hospital when it opened in 1727, including Arthur Guinness and Dean Swift. The hospital was closed in the early years of the 19th century and the buildings were used as a workhouse and known as the South Dublin Union. The workhouse infirmary, which originally catered for sick inmates only began to take on an increasingly active role as an infirmary for the sick poor. Some extremely competent physicians worked here at that period including Robert Mayne, a radiological expert.