# Rotunda Hospital

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For the hospital in Western Australian formerly of that name, see [Edward Millen Home](/source/Edward_Millen_Home).

Hospital in Dublin, Ireland

Rotunda Hospital Health Service Executive - RCSI Hospitals Rotunda Hospital frontage on Parnell Street Shown in Dublin Geography Location Parnell Square East, Rotunda, D01 P5W9, Dublin, Ireland Coordinates 53°21′09″N 6°15′45″W / 53.3526°N 6.2626°W / 53.3526; -6.2626 Organisation Care system HSE Type Specialist Affiliated university Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dublin City University Patron Bartholomew Mosse Services Speciality Maternity hospital History Former name Dublin Lying-In Hospital Founded 1745; 281 years ago (1745) Links Lists Hospitals in the Republic of Ireland

The **Rotunda Hospital** ([Irish](/source/Irish_language): *Ospidéal an Rotunda*;[1] legally the **Hospital for the Relief of Poor Lying-in Women, Dublin**)[2] is a [maternity hospital](/source/Maternity_hospital) on [Parnell Street](/source/Parnell_Street) in [Dublin](/source/Dublin), Ireland, now managed by [RCSI Hospitals](/source/RCSI_Hospitals).[3] The Rotunda entertainment buildings in [Parnell Square](/source/Parnell_Square) are no longer part of the hospital complex.

## History

### George's Lane

The original lying-in hospital at 59 South Great George's Street.

Facing towards the former hospital on South Great George's Street from Fade Street c1893

The Rotunda Hospital in 1780

Back of the hospital, showing tennis courts. ca. 1890s

Sign on the Rotunda hospital, with a [neon light](/source/Neon_light) image of a [stork](/source/Stork)

The hospital was founded by [Bartholomew Mosse](/source/Bartholomew_Mosse), a surgeon and [midwife](/source/Midwife) who was appalled at the conditions that pregnant women had to endure, in [George's Lane](/source/George's_Lane%2C_Dublin) in March 1745.[4] It was granted by royal charter on 2 December 1756 by [King George II](/source/George_II_of_Great_Britain).[5] [Lying-in](/source/Lying-in) is an archaic term for childbirth (referring to the month-long [bed rest](/source/Bed_rest) prescribed for [postpartum confinement](/source/Postpartum_confinement)).[6] The venture was very successful and Mosse raised money through concerts, exhibitions and even a lottery to establish larger premises.[7]

### New Gardens (Parnell Square)

The foundation stone of the new hospital was laid on 24 May 1751 on the site of the New Gardens on current day [Parnell Square](/source/Parnell_Square). The hospital moved to its current premises in 1757, designed by [Richard Cassels](/source/Richard_Cassels),[8] where it became known as "The New Lying-In Hospital".[9] The [Church of Ireland](/source/Church_of_Ireland) chapel was opened in 1762.[10] Open to the public, it provided a healthy income to the hospital annually, Dr. Mosse successfully encouraging wealthy Protestant Dubliners to attend service there.[11][12]

Records indicate that around 1781, "when the hospital was imperfectly ventilated, every sixth child died within nine days after birth, of convulsive disease; and that after means of thorough ventilation had been adopted, the mortality of infants, within the same, in five succeeding years, was reduced to one in twenty".[13] This issue was not limited to the Lying-In-Hospital. In that era, ventilation improvement was a general issue in patient care,[14] along with other issues of sanitation and hygiene, and the conditions in which surgeons such as [Robert Liston](/source/Robert_Liston) in Britain and elsewhere, had to operate.[15][16] [Florence Nightingale](/source/Florence_Nightingale) famously worked on the design of safe and healthy hospitals.[14]

The first [caesarean section](/source/Caesarean_section) in Ireland was undertaken at the hospital in 1889.[17]

## Rotunda

The eponymous **Rotunda**, designed by James Ensor,[8] was completed just in time for a reception hosted by [James FitzGerald, Marquess of Kildare](/source/James_FitzGerald%2C_1st_Duke_of_Leinster) in October 1767.[18]

The extensive **Rotunda Rooms**, designed by Richard Johnston and built adjacent to the rotunda, were completed in 1791.[19] By the early 19th century the hospital had become known as the Rotunda Hospital, after its most prominent architectural feature.[20] The Rotunda became a theatre, where the [Irish Volunteers](/source/Irish_Volunteers)' first public meeting was held in 1913, and later housed the Ambassador Cinema. The Rotunda Rooms now house the [Gate Theatre](/source/Gate_Theatre).[21]

## Architecture

Patrick Wyse Jackson, curator of the Geological Museum in [Trinity College](/source/Trinity_College_Dublin), assessed the building in 1993 as part of his book *"The Building Stones of Dublin: A Walking Guide"* with the following remarks:

- *"The walls of the current building dating from 1757 are faced with Leinster [granite](/source/Granite) and Kilgobbin granite... The former building was executed in [Portland stone](/source/Portland_stone) and Leinster granite, to which a sculptured [frieze](/source/Frieze) of [ox heads](/source/Bucranium) and other panels were added. These are interesting as they are made of [Coade stone](/source/Coade_stone), a fashionable artificial stone used widely in the late 1700s."*[22] The Rotunda or "round room", and the buildings now occupied by the [Gate Theatre](/source/Gate_Theatre) were later additions.[22]

## Services

The Rotunda Hospital, as both a maternity hospital and also as a training centre (affiliated with [Trinity College Dublin](/source/Trinity_College_Dublin))[23] is notable for having provided continuous service to mothers and babies since inception, making it the oldest continuously operating maternity hospital in the world.[24] In 2025, the total number of babies born at the hospital increased to more than 900,000 since it opened its doors.[25]

## Criticism

In 2000 the Rotunda Hospital was one of two Dublin maternity hospitals found to have illegally retained organ tissue from babies without parental consent. The tissue removed in post-mortem examinations was retained for some years. The Rotunda hospital admitted that permission should have been sought for this process to be allowed to take place.[26]

A medical negligence award was approved in 2020 for a young boy who developed [cerebral palsy](/source/Cerebral_palsy) as a result of complications with his delivery at the hospital in 2004.[27]

## See also

- [General Lying-In Hospital](/source/General_Lying-In_Hospital), London

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Ospidéal an Rotunda"](https://www.tearma.ie/q/Ospid%C3%A9al%20an%20Rotunda/). *[téarma.ie](/source/T%C3%A9arma.ie)*. Retrieved 15 May 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["S.I. No. 329/1999 - Freedom of Information Act, 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations, 1999"](http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1999/si/329/made/en/print). *electronic Irish Statute Book*. First Schedule, No.30. Retrieved 15 May 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Six hospital groups 'most fundamental reform in decades'"](https://www.imt.ie/news/six-hospital-groups-most-fundamental-reform-in-decades-14-05-2013/). Irish Medical Times. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Kirkpatrick, p. 7

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["The Rotunda Charter Booklet"](https://rotunda.ie/rotunda-pdfs/The%20Rotunda%20Charter%20Booklet.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 6 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Slemons, J. Morris](/source/J._Morris_Slemons) (1912). ["The Prospective Mother: A Handbook for Women During Pregnancy"](http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7129/pg7129-images.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Kirkpatrick, p. 25

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-arch_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-arch_8-1) ["Rotunda Hospital"](https://www.archiseek.com/1748-rotunda-hospital-parnell-square-dublin/). *Architecture Of Dublin*. Archiseek.com. Retrieved 11 June 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Kirkpatrick, p. 35

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Chronological History of the Rotunda Hospital"](http://grassrootsgaa.ie/rotunda-pdfs/chronological_History_of_The_Rotunda_Hospital.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 6 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["History: Heroes: Bartholomew Mosse"](http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_heroes/hist_hero_mosse.html). *www.turtlebunbury.com*. Retrieved 6 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Bartholomew Mosse and the Rotunda"](https://www.newstalk.com/newstalk-breakfast/hidden-histories-wturtle-bunbury-bartholomew-mosse-and-the-rotunda-717356). Newstalk. Retrieved 6 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hydropathy8thed_13-0)** [Claridge, Capt. R.T.](/source/R._T._Claridge) (1843). [*Hydropathy; or The Cold Water Cure, as practiced by Vincent Priessnitz, at Graefenberg, Silesia, Austria*](https://archive.org/details/hydropathyorcol00clargoog) (8th ed.). London: James Madden and Co. p. [37](https://archive.org/details/hydropathyorcol00clargoog/page/n49). Retrieved 29 October 2009. Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Nightingaleonline_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Nightingaleonline_14-1) [Nightingale, Florence](/source/Florence_Nightingale) (1860). [*Notes on Nursing: What it is and what it is not*](https://archive.org/details/notesonnursingwh00nigh). Boston: William Carter. Retrieved 24 October 2009. Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-GordononMotherhood_15-0)** [Gordon, Richard](/source/Richard_Gordon_(English_author)) (1983). "Disastrous Motherhood: Tales from the Vienna Wards". *Great Medical Disasters*. London: Hutchinson & Co. pp. 43–46. p.43

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Holmes, O.W.](/source/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes_Sr.) (March 1842). "On the contagiousness of puerperal fever". *New England Quarterly Journal of Medicine*. **i**: 503–30. in Gordon, R. (1983), p.147.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["New RTE series delves behind the scenes at world's longest running maternity hospital in Dublin"](https://www.irishpost.com/entertainment/new-rte-series-delves-behind-scenes-worlds-longest-running-maternity-hospital-dublin-159704). Irish Post. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Kirkpatrick, p. 68

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Kirkpatrick, p. 104

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Kirkpatrick, p. 198

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["90 Years of The Gate Theatre | Dublin City Council"](http://www.dublincity.ie/story/90-years-gate-theatre). *www.dublincity.ie*. Retrieved 28 June 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWyse_Jackson199345_22-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWyse_Jackson199345_22-1) [Wyse Jackson 1993](#CITEREFWyse_Jackson1993), p. 45.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-tcd_23-0)** ["Trinity College Campus Maps:-Rotunda"](http://www.tcd.ie/Maps/rotunda.html). University Of Dublin, Trinity College. Retrieved 11 June 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["The Rotunda: Behind the scenes at the world's oldest maternity hospital"](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/the-rotunda-behind-the-scenes-at-the-world-s-oldest-maternity-hospital-1.3628691). Irish Times. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["Delight as first babies of the New Year arrive"](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0101/1488705-new-year-babies/). 1 January 2025 – via www.rte.ie.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["Rotunda and Holles Street kept babies' organ tissue"](https://www.rte.ie/news/2000/0229/5816-organs/). 29 February 2000.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** ["Boy gets €3m over birth brain injuries"](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20381463.html). *Irish Examiner*. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2020.

### Sources

- Kirkpatrick, T. Percy C. (1913). [*The Book of the Rotunda Hospital*](https://archive.org/details/bookofrotundahos00kirk/page/n8). Adlard & Son, Bartholomew Press.

- Wyse Jackson, Patrick (1993). [*The Building Stones of Dublin: A Walking Guide*](https://archive.org/details/buildingstonesof0000wyse/mode/2up). Donnybrook, Dublin: Town House and Country House. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-946172-32-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-946172-32-3).

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Rotunda Hospital, Dublin](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Rotunda_Hospital,_Dublin).

- [Official website](https://rotunda.ie/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rotunda Hospital](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotunda_Hospital) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotunda_Hospital?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.