Fonds P26 - The Cratloe and Meelick Dispensary Collection

Identity area

Reference code

IE 2135 P26

Title

The Cratloe and Meelick Dispensary Collection

Date(s)

  • 1835-1850 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

2 items

Context area

Name of creator

(1835-?)

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

  • Béarla

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.

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    Related descriptions

    Notes area

    Alternative identifier(s)

    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

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        Sources

        Archivist's note

        Papers arranged and described by Anna-Maria Hajba in September 2022.

        Accession area