The First World War and Hospitals in Ireland, 1914–1918

Abstract

From 1914 to 1918, the Royal Army Medical Corps’ casualty evacuation system extended beyond the national borders that enclosed the battlefields of the Eastern and Western Fronts. Casualties were evacuated from ports near the frontlines to Britain by specially designed hospital ships and then distributed to military hospitals throughout the region. British Army medical services also decided to incorporate existing Irish military hospitals into the casualty evacuation system. In addition, the Royal Army Medical Corps reached an agreement with more than forty civilian hospitals in Belfast, Cork and Dublin to provide accommodation and medical treatment for soldiers. Chapter four details the expansion effort and assesses the impact of conflict on Ireland’s civilian medical infrastructure, focusing on the voluntary hospital system and specialist institutions. It analyses the difficulties encountered by military authorities in accommodating and treating wounded soldiers in Ireland and explores the development of the casualty dispersal process throughout the region.