Asylum: Omagh (HOS/29/1)
Registration Number: 6181

My name is Julie McGrath. I’m from Belfast originally and live in Lurgan now.

The person my haiku relates to is Maggie. Maggie was born in 1877, the second of five children in a farming family in rural County Tyrone.  

On 30 November 1896, eighteen-year-old Maggie apparently attempted to stab a male relative. There is no record of why or of what compelling evidence was produced against her, but the next day Maggie was declared a “dangerous lunatic,” with symptoms that included delusions and talking nonsense to herself.

The probable cause of her derangement is recorded as being “the excitement of a wedding feast.”  She was committed to Omagh Lunatic Asylum, where she remained until 8 April 1897.

I was really surprised by how scant Maggie’s medical notes were. During the four months of her detention, only eleven entries were made in her notes. Most of those state that Maggie was “fed with the nasal tube.”

Today, we know this to be an invasive method of force-feeding. Maggie was in fair physical health at the time of her admission, but from the following day, she was subjected to this force-feeding procedure multiple times a day, sometimes to the point of becoming faint.  

Maggie is described at various times in her notes as “troublesome” and “stupid”. I was really struck by the harshness of that terminology to describe an unwell young girl, knowing that these words were used by people charged with her care.

I was interested to see a later entry which was in different handwriting saying that, “though childish and reserved she is bright, industrious and talks coherently.”

cloud pervades all thought -

the bolt’s thundering release

ushers in a storm

Maggie was still only a teenager when she was subjected to these abhorrent and invasive practices in the asylum. As a mother of teenagers myself, I found that reality is very difficult to process. 

I did manage to find some hope in Maggie’s story though. Coming into this project, my understanding was that anyone unfortunate enough to be committed to an asylum would probably remain there for the rest of their lives. When I saw that Maggie was only eighteen at the time of her detention, my heart sank. It was a massive relief to see that she was discharged after four months.

Then, I found her in the 1901 census. I wondered if she would be recorded there as a lunatic – as there was a census question to that effect at the time. She is not. Instead, Maggie is noted simply as a twenty-year-old seamstress, living at home with her family on their farm.

I feel that Maggie deserves to have her horrific asylum experience acknowledged.  I hope I have been able to honour her resilience and her survival by sharing her story.

Maggie Sheridan by Julie McGrath

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Maggie Sheridan by Julie McGrath

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