Royal Hospital Donnybrook

In 1743 the building of the Duke of Leinster's palatial mansion called Leinster House was two years from completion.  It would be 25 years more before City Hall would he completed and the 1798 Rebellion was more than a half century away.  But 1743 was a landmark year in the development of hospital services for the people of Dublin. In that year the Hospital for Incurables was founded and, remarkably, today - more than two and a half centuries later as The Royal Hospital Donnybrook - it is still caring for the disabled and the elderly of Dublin.

Originally sited on Fleet Street, and later at Townsend Street, in the city centre, the hospital moved to its present location in Donnybrook in 1792. Over the intervening two centuries, it has developed a reputation as the largest provider of its kind of rehabilitation, respite and continuing care in the State.

As the oldest continuously operating hospital of its type in Ireland and Britain, The Royal Hospital Donnybrook (RHD) has built up particular expertise not only in the care of the elderly, but also in providing for the special needs of the chronically ill and disabled adults.

With a catchment population in excess of 300,000 in a fast growing area of our capital city, the demands on the hospital are increasing each year.  The challenge for the RHD now is to meet the evolving needs of adults and older persons with physical and neuro-disability.  Through its three-year development plan (2007-2009), the hospital will add capacity to the current building, reconfigure services to integrate with community developments and, in partnership with the HSE, develop a comprehensive plan to meet the health needs of future generations.

The growth and development envisaged in this plan will strengthen the RHD's role as a provider of expert caring, medical, nursing and therapy services to patients with complex neuro-disability.