Soldiers, Alcohol, and Insanity at Richmond Asylum, 1860s-1900s

Abstract

This article examines the role of alcohol in the etiology of madness through a case study of soldiers and veterans at Richmond Asylum in Dublin. It argues that the diagnostic process was a complex practice informed by medical and military authorities and patient and family histories. Like any medical records, Richmond casebooks are mediated through the medical gaze, but they do contain significant glimpses into what role patients and families believed alcohol played in soldiers’ mental health. The study highlights moments of consensus and disagreement rather than a singular theory on the role of alcohol in mental illness. Through a detailed study of casebooks and registers, the essay explores the connections between the carceral and asylum systems, competing charges of malingering and feigning sanity, and the specific influence of army life and imperial climate on soldiers’ drinking habits. This article is a case study exploring how the heated debates over alcohol’s role in mental illness unfolded around a military population in a civilian asylum