History

It all started when…

The Richmond Education and Event Centre building is located on a post-medieval site in the heart of Dublin City. The building and the site it sits on has a rich history with many tales to tell.  The site was first built on by the Benedictine Nuns who opened a convent in 1688 in what was known as a poor area of Dublin. In 1772, a new Act of Parliament sought to further improve the area by establishing hospitals, which were to be known as ’Houses of Industry’. Subsequently, the following hospital facilities were built and opened on the site: Hardwicke Fever Hospital (1803), The Richmond Surgical Hospital (1811), the Whitworth Medical Hospital (1817) and The Richmond Lunatic Asylum (1815). Many notable events happened in The Richmond Surgical hospital. The first operation in Ireland using Chloroform took place here. The current Richmond Hospital building was built in 1897 at an estimated cost of £25,000, paid for by the humane donations of a number of generous benefactors 1. The Richmond Surgical Hospital officially opened on Saturday, 20th April 1901 and for 86 years it continued to live out its longstanding reputation of being at the forefront of surgical care in Ireland and was widely known for it's highly reputed surgeons and nurses. The Richmond Hospital closed its doors as a hospital in 1987.  The building has had various functions since. In 1996 the building was leased by the Office of Public Works for use as a courthouse which continued for many years. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) purchased the building for its members in 2013, with the vision of creating one of Ireland’s most distinctive and welcoming education and event centres. After years of planning and significant investment, the INMO opened The Richmond Education and Event Centre on 20th April 2018 – 117 years to the day since the building was originally opened,  providing Dublin with a new education, meetings and events venue offering a unique mix of old world charm and contemporary luxury.

Reference:  1. O’Brien, E., Browne, L. and O’Malley, K. (1988) The House of Industry Hospitals 1772-1987, The Richmond, Whitworth and Hardwicke Hospitals, A Closing Memoir, Dublin: The Anniversary Press.

http://www.eoinobrien.org/books/The%20House%20of%20Industry%20Hospitals.pdf