Lunacy (Ireland) Act 1867
Lunacy (Ireland) Act, 1867
(30 & 31 Vict.) C A P. CXVIII.
An Act to provide for the Appointment of the Officers and Servants of District Lunatic Asylums inIreland , and to alter and amend the Law relating to the Custody of dangerous Lunatics and dangerous Idiots in Ireland .
[20th August 1867]
W HEREAS under the Provisions of an Act passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the First and Second Years of the Reign of His late Majesty KingGeorge the Fourth, intituledAn Act to make More effectual Provision for the Establishment of Asylums for the Lunatic Poor, and for the Custody of Insane Persons charged with Offences, in Ireland, and of the several Acts amending the same, District Lunatic Asylums have been established in Ireland:
And whereas Doubts have arisen as to the Person or Persons by whom the Officers and Servants of such District Lunatic Asylums should be appointed:
And whereas it is expedient to remove the same, and to provide for the Appointment of the said Officers and Servants:
And whereas an Act was passed in the First Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituledAn Act to make more effectual Provision for the Prevention of Offences by Insane Persons in Ireland, by which it is, amongst other things, enacted, that if any Person should be discovered and apprehended in Ireland under Circumstances denoting a Derangement of Mind, and a Purpose of committing some Crime for which, if committed, such Person would be liable to be indicted, it should be lawful for any Two Justices of the Peace of the County, County of a City, County of a Town, City or Town, and Liberties, before whom such Person might be brought, to call to their Assistance any legally qualified Physician, Surgeon, or Apothecary; and if upon View and Examination of the said Person so apprehended, or from other Proof, the said Justices should be satisfied that such Person was a dangerous Lunatic or a dangerous Idiot, it should be lawful for the said Justices, by Warrant under their Hands and Seals, to commit such Person to the Gaol of such County, County of a Town, City or Town, and Liberties, there to be kept in strict Custody until or unless such Person should be discharged in manner by the said Act provided:
And whereas the said Act was amended by another Act passed in the Eighth and Ninth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituledAn Act for the Establishmentof a Central Asylum for Insane Persons charged with Offences in Ireland; and to amend the Act relating to the Prevention of Offences by Insane Persons, and the Acts respecting Asylums for the Insane Poor in Ireland; and for appropriating the Lunatic Asylum in the City of Cork to the Purposes of a District Lunatic Asylum:
And whereas it is expedient further to amend the same, and to make other and better Provision for the safe Custody of dangerous Lunatics and dangerous Idiots inIreland:
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
1 Interpretation of Terms.
1. In this Act the Words following shall have the Meanings herein-after assigned to them:
‘Lord Lieutenant’ shall mean Lord Lieutenant ofIreland and the Lords Justices or other Chief Governors or Governor of Ireland for the Time being:
‘Officer’ shall include Resident Medical Superintendent, Consulting and Visiting Physician, Chaplains, Matron, Apothecary, Clerk and Storekeeper, Schoolmaster and Schoolmistress of any District Lunatic Asylum, and any Person discharging any Duties in any such Asylum whom the Lord Lieutenant by Order in Council shall so designate.
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