The Coombe Memorial

The Coombe Memorial is the surviving portico that marks the original location of the old Coombe Maternity Hospital which opened in 1829. Today, the portico doubles as a record of some of the well known street characters of 20th century Dublin, who are listed on the rear steps.

Towards the end of the 1825, two women, in a vain attempt to reach the Rotunda Hospital on the north side of Dublin City, perished, together with their new born baby in the snow.

When this became known, a number of benevolent and well disposed people founded the Coombe Lying-in Hospital the following year for the relief of poor women. Leading the charitable Committee was Mrs. Margaret Boyle who donated £100 to the cause.

The Coombe Memorial portico formed the entrance to the hospital until the year 1967, when the hospital moved to a new location in Dolphin’s Barn. The old portico was retained by Dublin Corporation as a memorial to the many mothers who gave birth to future citizens of Ireland in the Coombe Lying-in Hospital and also to the generosity of its staff.