‘Emotional’ discussion to honour 1,300 people in St Loman’s graves

An “emotional and proactive” discussion was held last weekend on how to honour the 1,300 former patients buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of St Loman’s Hospital.

Family and friends of those buried there, as well as former staff members at the hospital, were the Annebrook House Hotel on Saturday February 18 to get the ball rolling.

The discussion was facilitated by mental health advocate and musician Niall ‘Bressie’ Breslin and campaigner Julie Clarke, who believe a memorial wall and garden would be an effective way to honour those buried at the former psychiatric institution.

Burials took place at St Loman’s Hospital between 1907 and 1970, and crosses with numbers identified individual graves, as opposed to people’s names.

The crosses deteriorated over the years and the last 300 were removed in the early 2010s – since then the site has become overgrown and is no longer recognisable as a graveyard.

Bressie told the 30-odd attendees at the event how he has “tried to run away from the memory of St Loman’s” for all of his life.

“When I was a teenager I struggled hugely with my mental health, I had chronic insomnia and I can’t remember much of it because I was so all over the place,” he said.

“There was a constant fear in my head that I would be sent to St Loman’s if I ever told the truth to doctors of what I was dealing with.

“I ended up in the general hospital in Mullingar when I was 15, I was sweating, thinking I was going to tell them, but I couldn’t tell them for fear of being put in there.

“That’s because of the stories I had heard over the years of what went on there.”

Bressie, who is currently completing a PhD on the Irish psychiatric system with Trinity College, said there are “really harrowing stories” from other institutions too.

“There was one family who had to toss a coin to see who the ‘mad one’ was because they couldn’t feed all six of them,” he said.

“It was the youngest, unfortunately, a 15-year-old, who lost and he was put in [to an institution] and died there 24 years later.”

He told the Westmeath Examiner he was delighted with the response to the event. “I am confident in our goals now,” said Bressie.

“We don’t know what the memorial wall will look like yet, if there will be 50 names or hundreds on it, but there has to be a space for people to visit and something to recognise the people buried here.

“Everyone has a personal story here, which we have heard many of today. Some are upsetting, so I think we have to do this very sensibly.”

Julie Clarke told those in attendance how her grandmother, Julia Leonard, had been institutionalised and buried at St Loman’s Hospital.

She only learned of what became of her grandmother as a teen and had shelved the memory for many years, until 2012, when she couldn’t ignore it any more.

“I started to think about her a lot around that time and I started to stop at St Loman’s to look at the grave,” said Ms Clarke.

“I had a dream about her and in that dream, she was so clear – she reached out to me and said very simply, ‘tell my story’.

“I had a second dream three months later where she said ‘tell my story’ – after I had ignored the first one she wasn’t going away.”

After the second dream, Ms Clarke decided to visit her grandmother’s grave again.

“It was an empty graveyard; all the crosses were taken and all they had on them was numbers like they were prisoners,” she said.

“I stood in the graveyard; I cried and cried and said ‘this isn’t good enough’.

“These are real people, who were mothers, who were fathers, uncles and grandfathers.”

Ms Clarke told the Westmeath Examiner that she was delighted with the feedback and contributions at the event.

“It was important for people to feel safe to talk and know they’re not alone,” she said.

“A lot of people gave their stories; one person told us about their aunt who was put into St Loman’s as a toddler and died aged 16 – that was her aunt. Some of the stories are so personal and so emotional. If we can get those stories out to the general public, everyone can see why we are doing this and help us.”

The next course of action is a planned meeting with the HSE at the gravesite at St Loman’s Hospital on March 4, to discuss with officials their plans to build a memorial wall and garden.

Further public meetings will also be scheduled for people to share their stories and contribute to the plans for a memorial.