It may not be generally known that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the death of George Simpson, the founder of Simpson's Hospital. This merchant, who lived at 24 Jervis street, was a sufferer from gout and blindness, and on one occasion, as he lay in great pain, he was unable to reach the bell to communicate with others in the house. This led him to think of others similarly afflicted, but with the additional handicap of the lack of means, and the result was that, in consultation with his wife, he devised his estate with a view to founding the asylum for men in reduced circumstances which has borne his name for a century and a half.
The arrangements made in 1778, on the death of the founder, being found inadequate, more elaborate preparations were made, resulting in the erection of a new building in 1787, which for so many years was the abode of a number of elderly men whose tall hats and frock coasts were well known to the passers-by.
Some years ago on the transfer to more airy and suitable country premises this charitable institution underwent a metamorphosis, and in years to come it is most unlikely that the casual observer will connect Simpson's Home at Dundrum with the Simpson's Hospital so familiar to the Dublin of the past.
The Irish Times
November 26th, 1928.