World Within Walls collection

The World Within Walls collection relates the histories and memories of the St. Davnet’s Campus psychiatric hospital in Monaghan town and is part of a wider local history project commissioned and funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and delivered by Stair: An Irish Public History company under the guidance of the HSE World Within Walls project reference group. The aim of the World Within Walls project is to remember St. Davnet's history and its evolution from District Asylum in 1869, to psychiatric hospital and now to its present role as a modern community mental health services campus. Since it's opening many people have lived and worked on the St. Davnet’s site as patients or staff. This collection captures a portion of the memories of these people, with the earliest interview covering what work was like in the 1930s. The collection also tracks the changes that have taken place since this time, reflecting changing attitudes to the treatment of mental health issues.

The World Within Walls collection has been archived at the Irish Qualitative Data Archive and consists of the following:
• interview transcripts from oral history interviews with former patients, staff and key informants
• audio recordings from these oral history interviews (clips)
• an extensive collection of photographs and images that were created and donated during the course of the project
• a number of scanned documents, maps and plans of the hospital and grounds
• support documentation and guidance on using this collection

There are six sub-collections of data within the World Within Walls collection (scroll through the sub-collections at the bottom of this page to view each). The images, maps and plans, and audio clips are openly available to the public, while access to full-length audio and transcript material is through application to the Irish Qualitative Data Archive and is restricted to bona fide academic researchers and teachers, and to students who are currently registered at a third-level academic institution. All researchers and users of the World Within Walls archive should read the support documents and guidelines relevant to them and follow the guidelines provided.