The cemetery at St Loman’s Hospital in Mullingar holds the remains of 1,300 patients buried there between 1907 and 1971. Their graves were marked not by names, but by small iron crosses bearing only simple reference numbers. The iron crosses were removed some years ago, and the photograph above is believed to be the only surviving image of those once-familiar markers. Photo taken 1989.

RTÉ special to centre on last known record of St Loman’s unmarked graves

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A powerful new RTÉ documentary, All That Remains, will bring the hidden history of Westmeath's St Loman’s Hospital back into the spotlight.

The one-hour special, airing Wednesday, 11th March, at 9.35 PM on RTÉ One, takes a hard look at the unmarked graves of patients who were buried in the hospital grounds with nothing more than numbered crosses to mark their final resting place.

Many of the patients were from Westmeath, Offaly, and the wider Midlands area.

The crosses were later removed by the health authorities due to concerns about vandalism, severing the last link between the memory of those people, and the exact plot in which they were buried.

Now, thanks to a rare collection of photographs taken decades ago by photographer and Gaeilgeoir Matt Nolan, the graves and the people behind them will be remembered.

Nolan’s photographs offer a rare glimpse of the rows of numbered crosses that once marked the hospital’s burial ground, a sight he likens to the military cemeteries of Normandy.

“I’m the only one in Ireland who has these photos,” Nolan said. “Each cross had a number, and people knew exactly where their loved ones were buried.”

Nolan, who photographed the graves over 20 to 30 years ago, is the only person with this visual record, capturing the stark rows of graves before the crosses were removed.

For him, these images are more than just pictures, they’re a link to the past, a way to bring back the memories of those buried there, who were too often forgotten or overlooked.

The documentary will shine a spotlight on the unmarked graves and the people they represent, restoring some dignity to those who were left without names.

Nolan also spoke with the patients, got to know them, and photographed them as individuals rather than as faceless residents of the institution.

“There are hardly any photos of the patients. Most books on the hospital focused on staff and officials, not on the people who actually lived there,” Nolan said.

“They were very well-known characters. They’re going to come to life again in this documentary.”

Two old friends who would often meet in the mid-morning at the Market Square, to discuss how Mullingar was getting on. Jimmy Nooney, a storeman with Westmeath County Council, (on left) lived in Old Springfield and Jimmy McArdle was a resident at St Loman’s Hospital. Photo taken 1982.
For years Joe Deegan was one of Mullingar’s most recognisable characters. He was a proud Mullingar man and a dedicated Westmeath football supporter. He went to school in CBS but never liked the place. He regularly found himself sitting in ‘the dunce’s seat’. “Not a very nice place,” he admitted for it was there that he got regular “beatings” from The Brothers. He emigrated to England in the early 1960s and got employment with a circus, where he worked doing daredevil tricks and feeding elephants. He returned to Mullingar in 1970 and worked part-time with good friends like Joe Healy and Joe Dolan doing odd jobs such as gardening and caddy work on the golf course. But gradually alcohol was taking him over and he often found himself living rough in various towns around the country. He was certain that he would have died long before he did were it not for the gardaí who often picked him up and took him out to St Loman’s, where he liked being “admitted”… just because the hospital was warm. The Nuns were his friends too and it was with them that he dined most of the time when he was around Mullingar. He was part of the heart of Mullingar and Westmeath until ‘the drink’ caught up on him. He died in 2010. Photo taken 1999.
Mick Bracken, long-term resident of St Loman’s, was someone who liked to have a flutter on a horse most days. He is photographed in Austin Friar Street checking on results at Barrys Betting Office in 1984.
John Daly, a Mullingar native and a resident of St Loman’s Hospital. He is photographed going for a walk in the town. In the background is St Patrick’s Male unit. Photo taken 1989.
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