Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1835-1850 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 items
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Cratloe and Meelick Dispensary was formed on 6 January 1835 to provide healthcare for the underprivileged in East Clare within the Limerick poor-law union. The Dispensary’s work was supported partly through private subscriptions and partly through public funding. Surgeon Thomas Kane of Cecil Street, Limerick acted as the medical attendant. Initially, treatment was provided free of charge to patients in receipt of vouchers distributed by subscribers. However, the voucher system was vulnerable to abuse and from 1840 onwards a small fee was charged from all except the most destitute. The Dispensary remained active throughout the famine years, but by 1850 struggled to find funding. Its subsequent fate is unknown.
Archival history
Unknown.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Purchased from De Búrca Rare Books jointly by University of Limerick's Graduate School of Medicine and Department of History on 11 February 2010.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This small collection provides valuable information about the founding of the establishment and its subscribing members, ethos, funding and finances primarily between 1835 and 1848. It also contains statistical information about the parish and the volume of patients treated, and provides insights into which leading local families contributed or did not contribute to the funding of the Dispensary. It should be noted that the documents are purely of administrative nature and contain no names of individual patients or the nature of ailments and illnesses treated at the Dispensary.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
All records have been retained.
Accruals
No accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Documents have been arranged chronologically by date.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access to all items.
Conditions governing reproduction
Standard copyright regulations apply to all items. For photocopying or reproducing material, please consult with the staff.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Paper documents in reasonable condition.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Available digitally on the University of Limerick Digital Library at https://doi.org/10.34966/uldl.7b9b-se84.
The National Library of Ireland holds a copy of P26/1 in location N.6361, P.7363. A record of the copy can be found at http://sources.nli.ie/Record/MS_UR_080721.
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
This description follows guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd edition (2000), Irish Guidelines for Archival Description (2009), National Council on Archives: Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names (1997) and EAP Guidance on Data Protection for Archive Services (2018).
Status
Level of detail
Language(s)
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Sources
Archivist's note
Papers arranged and described by Anna-Maria Hajba in September 2022.