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St. Patrick's Hospital, Castlerea

T. B. Sanatorium - late 1940's to early 1960's.
 

Whispering Pectoriloquy

The Magazine of Castlerea Sanatorium.

Volume 1 Number 2. Summer Issue 1950.

 St. Patrick's Hospital, Castlerea was built in 1934 for £250,000 - a princely figure for the time! The contractor was John Siske. Initially it was built as a psychiatric hospital, but in 1948 Dr. Noel Browne, Minister for Health with the Coalition Government, decided to make a concerted effort to wipe out Tuberculosis (T. B.) in the country. St. Patrick's was one of the hospitals chosen to be a T. B. Sanatorium, and it remained in use as such until the early 1960's, when it was returned to psychiatric use. In recent decades it was converted into Castlerea Prison and many of the old hospital buildings have been demolished.

Whispering Pectoriloquy was the in-house magazine of Castlerea T. B. Sanatorium. It is obvious from the copy illustrated right that at least two issues were produced. This is the only one we have seen. If anyone has more information or copies of this publication, please contact us.

The name "Whispering Pectoriloquy" comes from the word "pectoriloquy", a noun, meaning abnormal transmission of the patients voice sounds through the chest wall so that they can be clearly heard through a stethoscope. Whispered sounds (whispering pectoriloquy) can be heard over the lung of a patient with pneumonia (and, in the 1950's, obviously, T. B. also). Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 1996.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A photo of the Hospital, taken from the booklet & a later postcard.

We would love to hear from anyone who can improve our knowledge of this subject or anyone who has other copies of this magazine. Please contact us.

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