An infirmary where patients could be admitted if they became completely unmanageable or ill was also set up. Dymphna was built in Geel in the 1300s and eventually so many people with mental health issues made pilgrimages to the church that the townspeople began accepting them into their homes, beginning a tradition of home care for the mentally ill that continues in the town today. She was just 15.Īround the time that Dymphna’s remains were found, she developed a reputation for curing people with epilepsy and mental illness, who at the time were believed to be possessed by the devil.Ī church honoring St. When she refused, he drew his sword and beheaded her. He ordered the priest’s head to be separated from his body and tried to persuade Dymphna to return to Ireland to marry him. The group hid in the town of Geel in what is now Belgium, but Dymphna’s father found them and captured them. When she heard of his plan, Dymphna fled Ireland with a priest, two servants and the king’s fool. When none could be found, he decided to marry his daughter. He vowed that he would only marry a woman as beautiful as his first wife. Her mother died when she was 14, and her father was driven mad with grief. As the legend goes, Dymphna was born to a pagan king and a Christian mother in Ireland.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |