Beginning in the late eighteenth century, fever hospitals emerged in Britain and Ireland as specialist institutions for the treatment of fever patients who were excluded from infirmaries due to fear of contagion. In Pre-Famine fever epidemics, Ciarán McCabe examines the establishment of Dublin’s Cork Street Fever Hospital within the context of the wider ‘fever-hospital movement’. Using the Cork Street Fever Hospital as a case study, McCabe explores how the institution, which opened in 1804 and was influenced by the Manchester House of Recovery, responded to fever epidemics in 1817 and 1826. McCabe argues that whilst the institution effectively treated fever, it was unprepared during times of crises.

In chapter 1, the author explores the establishment, management and ordinary workings of the Cork Street Fever Hospital. He provides a comprehensive overview of the institution with references to funding, staffing, admission procedures, patient demographics, medical treatment and religion. Using administrative sources such as hospital minute books and annual reports, in conjunction with parliamentary reports, newspapers, medical journals and Cork Street’s medical reports, McCabe expertly depicts the experiences of administrators, medical practitioners and patients. Despite the lack of surviving admission registers, the author skilfully uses available sources to capture the experiences of individual patients. He analyses the influence of the Manchester House of Recovery and contemporary understanding of contagion on Cork Street’s design and administration. This detailed examination of the establishment and normal operation of the hospital facilitates comparisons with Dublin’s voluntary hospitals. By showcasing the normal operation of the institution, McCabe successfully demonstrates the impact and response of the nascent institution to fever epidemics.

Chapters 2 and 3 examine the impact of the 1817–19 epidemic and 1826–7 epidemic respectively on the Cork Street Fever Hospital. Considering that the Cork Street Fever Hospital opened in 1804, by using the 1817–19 epidemic as a case study, McCabe demonstrates how the nascent institution responded to an increased demand for beds. As one of two fever hospitals in Dublin upon the onset of the outbreak, the author analyses the impact of the epidemic on Cork Street’s governors and medical staff. He charts the annual admission and mortality figures of the Cork Street Fever Hospital prior to and during the epidemic to illustrate the impact on admission. Through an examination of the hospital’s annual reports, minute books and medical reports, McCabe argues that despite increased pressure on the hospital, patient mortality increased slightly, which reflected effective treatment of fever. However, despite the efficacy of treatment, the author includes examples of the sick poor who refused to go to hospital. The inclusion of sick poor’s perspective strengthens the book by highlighting how Dubliners perceived both the hospital and institutionalised medical care.

Chapter 3 explores the 1826–7 fever epidemic in Dublin. Whilst chapter 2 examined how a new institution responded to an epidemic, chapter 3 analyses the impact of economic depression on the Cork Street Fever Hospital. Economic recession in 1825–6 severely disrupted Dublin’s textile industry, which was centred in the Liberties. Rising destitution in a working-class neighbourhood increased the poor’s susceptibility to infection. As Cork Street Fever Hospital was in the Liberties, the economic depression paired with the fever outbreak placed additional pressure on the institution. Unlike the 1817–19 epidemic, the economic depression during the 1826–7 outbreak limited the efforts of Dublin’s relief committee and voluntary donors to support the hospital as fundraising and relief work for unemployed labourers were prioritised over public health. As a result, McCabe analyses the reduction of the hospital’s income from voluntary sources and examined emergency government expenditure. The author also explores the hospital’s response to the epidemic through the erection of temporary tents and hiring additional staff despite financial hardship and increased demand for admission.

Despite its short length, McCabe provides a compelling examination of how Dublin’s first purpose-built fever hospital responded to contagion during periods of normal examination and during crises. As the scholarship on medical care in Dublin primarily centres on the Famine and the 1918–19 influenza epidemic, Pre-Famine fever epidemics provides a valuable contribution to the historiography through its analysis of the establishment and operation of the pre-Famine institution. This volume expands our understanding of the development of Dublin’s medical landscape, medical care and hospital administration in the early nineteenth century, which ultimately contextualises medical institutions’ response to the Famine. This book will appeal to scholars of Irish medical and institutional history, in addition to students of medical provision in pre-Famine Ireland.