Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, today celebrates 50 years caring for children.
A number of events have been organised to mark the milestone, including a special anniversary Mass celebrated by the chairman of the hospital, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.
"The hospital is very proud to celebrate 50 years caring for the sick children of Ireland," Dr Martin said. "I wish to take this opportunity to thank all our friends, supporters, patrons and families and in particular the dedicated staff that have made Our Lady's internationally recognised as an excellent centre for the treatment of sick children."
The first patient, a six-month-old baby boy was admitted to the hospital on November 27th, 1956, suffering from pneumonia and was discharged home on December 8th, 1956, after recovering.
Our Lady's now cares for more than 100,000 outpatients annually from all over Ireland and has 22,500 inpatient admissions. The average length of stay now is only five days.