Images show a "creepy" abandoned Irish psychiatric hospital that opened in the 1830s which still has medicine rooms and even an "old coffin" in the basement.
Urban explorer Jordan L. took photos of St Bridgid's Psychiatric Hospital in Ballinasloe, County Galway, and captured eerie images of the building that has been left to unchanged since it closed its doors in 2013 after 180 years.
A wheelchair can be seen left in the middle of a hallway and a ‘Caution Slippery Floor’ sign has been left out with the property looking as though people left in a hurry.
Jordan, 24, explored the extensive hospital grounds for over six hours, with the place closed following deinstitutionalisation.
The process of deinstitutionalisation of mental health began in the 1960s in Ireland leading to a shift in patients with mental illnesses from being kept in psychiatric hospitals and being moved to community mental health services.
St Bridgid's Psychiatric Hospital first opened its doors in 1833 as The Connacht District Lunatic Asylum and was considered one of the earliest of the Irish district asylums, hailing a new progressive role in mental health for Ireland, stating that it would care for the ‘curable lunatics’.
As time went on, however, the hospital would be continually overcrowded, with an example being 1,165 patients in accommodation that was designed for only around 840 in, November, 1900.
With the deinstitutionalisation of mental health and the constant overcrowding, St. Bridgid’s Psychiatric Hospital was forced to close its doors in 2013.
“The hospital, which was designed by William Murray, opened as the Connacht Asylum in 1833,” she said.
“In 1850, it was renamed the Ballinasloe District Asylum.
“As it expanded, conditions became very overcrowded with nearly 1,200 patients by the early 1900s and, having been renamed Ballinasloe Mental Hospital in the late 1920s, it accommodated some 2,000 patients by the 1950s.
“The facility became St. Brigid's Hospital in the 1950s. After the introduction of deinstitutionalisation in the late 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in 2013.”
When Jordan explored the grounds, she felt as though the hospital being overrun by weeds and plants was a poignant way to see nature returning.
The scariest part of the exploration for Jordan was when she found an old abandoned coffin sitting alone in the basement, which she thankfully discovered was empty.
“It was a strange experience,” she said. “It was a mixture of awe at the sheer scale and size of everything but also sadness knowing the dark history and the treatment of people inside what was effectively a prison.
“The creepiest part was definitely the basement of the hospital where they had all the medicine rooms and the boiler room etc. There was an old coffin down there which was thankfully empty but made for a creepy explore.
“My favourite part was definitely the overgrowth. I love seeing how nature takes back the places we leave behind and witnessing all the plants making this asylum their home was fascinating.”