This brief history of our hospital is relevant to understanding our current position. The hospital was founded in 1955 in response to the rise in the incidence of tuberculosis. At that time, tuberculosis was treated with exposure to fresh air and sunlight. Blanchardstown was a rural village several miles from Dublin. Cabra had only been developed and Finglas and Castleknock were small villages on the north-western fringe of the city.

In the early 1960s the introduction of effective antibiotics revolutionised the treatment of tuberculosis and there was no need for the hospital to continue in its original role. By this stage however, there was increasing urban development in the area around the hospital and the hospital was recognised as a General Hospital in 1973. By the early 1980s the increasing population of the catchment area and pressures on other hospitals resulted in the hospital’s integration into the Accident and Emergency Service for North Dublin.

At this time there were very few consultant appointments to the hospital. The majority of these consultants had between 1 and 4 session commitments to the hospital with their primary commitment to the Mater, Jervis Street and Richmond Hospitals. Over two thirds of the acute medical beds, including the Coronary Care Unit, were located away from the main hospital block. A significant number of services were provided from temporary prefabricated buildings, which were erected in the early 1980s. As demands on the hospital’s services increased these buildings and ancillary facilities were inadequate to meet the needs of the catchment population.

In 1995 agreement was reached with the Department of Health and Children to undertake a major development programme at the hospital. In 2000 we commenced a €96m Capital Development Programme. This development replaced the older buildings on the site, which were spread out over a large area, with a modern facility, utilising a combination of new buildings integrated with substantially upgraded existing ones.

The new development was commissioned in October 2004 and includes a new Emergency Department, Coronary Care and Cardiac Unit, Psychiatry of Old Age Day Hospital, Theatre Suite, Surgical and Medical Block, Intensive Care Unit, Day Surgery facilities and a General Adult Psychiatric Unit.

Until recently the hospital was known as James Connolly Memorial Hospital and has, in the past, been under the governance of the former Eastern Health Board and the former Eastern Regional Health Authority (as part of the former Northern Area Health Board). Since January 1st 2005, Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown operates in Hospital Network 10 alongside Beaumont Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital, Rotunda Hospital and Children’s University Hospital Temple Street. The hospital has been and continues to be an important training facility for medical, nursing and allied health professionals working closely with the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI), Dublin City University (DCU), the Institute of Technology, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD).

Today, the demographics of the area served by the hospital are very different to those of the 1950s. The hospital is in the middle of a rapidly expanding urban area serving a population of over 290,000 people. We continue to respond to the ever-changing needs of our patients and clients from DublinNorth West and South West to Meath and Kildare.