End of an era as Limerick hospital building ceases operating after almost 200 years

THIS Friday marks the end of an era for healthcare in Limerick as the final patients and staff left the former Barrington’s Hospital building for the final time.

The hospital, at George’s Quay in the city centre, ceased operating after almost two centuries serving the people of Limerick.

The facility was taken over by healthcare provider Bon Secours in 2017 at a time when it was Limerick’s largest private hospital.

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It was rebranded as Bon Secours Hospital at Barrington’s.

But with the company unveiling a state-of-the-art hospital at Ballysimon on the edge of Limerick it decided to move out of its premises in the city centre.

It was a low-key closure to a hospital building which would have been used by generations of Limerick people through the years.

Barrington’s was founded in 1829 by Joseph Barrington and his sons Matthew, Daniel, Croker and Samuel.

It was built, in their words, “for the relief of the poor” of their native city.

It was completed in 1830.

A limestone building, which is now a protected structure, rises three storeys above the River Shannon, where it flows into the Canal Bank.

Up until 1988, it operated as a public hospital, and was held in high esteem by the people of Limerick.

When the Fianna Fail government decided to end acute services there, it sparked one of the city’s largest demonstrations, wih 20,000 people turning up to show their opposition.

Despite Fianna Fail TD Willie O’Dea voting against his own Government in a bid to retain Barrington’s, it closed, with many commentators even decades on linking it with the current overcrowding crisis in University Hospital Limerick.

The building was bought by vascular surgeon Paul O'Byrne in 1991, who re-opened it as a private hospital.

It was put on the market last year as Bon Secours outlined its move away.