Madness, Migration and the Irish in Lancashire, 1850-1921

In the first half of 1847 an estimated 300,000 Irish migrants arrived into the port of Liverpool. Irish migration into Lancashire escalated significantly during the Great Famine and remained high in the post-famine period. Irish migrants were described as being markedly susceptible to mental illness and Lancashire’s four major asylums absorbed a huge number of Irish migrants from the 1850s onwards. A three-year, Wellcome trust funded project entitled ’Madness, migration and the Irish in Lancashire ’, has been set up to examine this phenomenon. The project assesses whether there were particular stereotypes and concerns, which influenced the incarceration and treatment of Irish patients, and places the experiences of Irish patients and those treating them within a broader canvass of efforts to tackle disease, poverty, intemperance and social dislocation in Lancashire. The arrival of large numbers of Irish in Lancashire prompted a series of anxieties for civil, religious and