Switzer's Asylum
{{short description|Kilkenny Almshouse}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name = Switzer's Asylum
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| map_type = Ireland
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| location = Nuncio Road, Kilkenny,
Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|52.647978|-7.244446|format=dms|type:landmark_region:IE|display=inline,title}}
| religious_affiliation = Church of Ireland
| province = Leinister
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| architecture_style = classically derived
| founded_by = James Switzer
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| year_completed = 1804
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Switzer's Asylum also known as Saint James Asylum was founded by James Switzer of Kilkenny in the 1800s for the housing of twenty poor widows.
Asylum
The asylum was founded with the aim of housing twelve Protestant and eight Roman Catholic widows in the units with an additional sum of twenty pounds per year. Today Switzer's Asylum is nineteen units managed by the Church of Ireland in St Patrick’s Parish, Kilkenny.{{cite book |title=KILKENNY HOUSING STRATEGY |date=15 October 2001 |publisher=Kilkenny County Council and Corporation |pages=42}}{{cite web | title=Kilkenny Hospitals | website=Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) | url=https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/K/Kilkenny-Hospitals.php | access-date=2020-01-16}} The foundation was established by Act of Parliament which identified who would be entitled to be resident in the units. No one who had ever been a servant, the widow, daughter or niece of a servant could be allowed there.{{cite web | title=Kilkenny Almshouses – Kilkenny Archaeological Society | website=Kilkenny Archaeological Society – Kilkenny Ireland Local History Genealogy Kilkenny City Buildings Culture | url=http://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/kilkenny-almshouses/ | access-date=2020-01-16}}{{cite web |title=Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA), no. 10, Kilkenny |url=https://www.ria.ie/sites/default/files/ihta-10-kilkenny-text.pdf |website=Royal Irish Academy |accessdate=16 January 2020}} The rule was to allow
{{blockquote|decent and respectable persons, the widows or daughters of respectable persons resident in the county or city of Kilkenny or county of Carlow for ten years or more.}}
Building
The building is a detached almshouse with five three-bays, two-storey high units with a single three bay two storey breakfront. The units are set in a small cul-de-sac of private grounds with a limestone surrounding wall. There is a monument at the front of the building which is a statue by Benjamin Schrowder of Dublin of the founder. It has classically derived proportions though modern renovations have eroded some of the character. It was built in the beginning of the 1800s with work completed about 1803 or 1804. It was renovated in 1992.{{cite web | author=FUSIO | title=Saint James's Asylum, Deansground, County Kilkenny | website=Buildings of Ireland | url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12001112/saint-jamess-asylum-deansground-county-kilkenny | access-date=2020-01-16}}
Founder
James Switzer was a native of Kilkenny and worked as the building contractor on the Kilkenny City Military Barracks. He used some of the left over building materials of the barracks to complete the Almshouse.
See also
{{portal|Ireland}}