The Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake was a lottery established in the Irish Free State in 1930 as the Irish Free State Hospitals' Sweepstake to finance hospitals, and is often referred to as the Irish Sweepstake. The Public Charitable Hospitals (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1930 was the act that established the lottery; as this act expired in 1934, in accordance with its terms, the Public Hospitals Acts were the legislative basis for the scheme there after. After the Constitution of Ireland was enacted in 1937 the name Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake was adopted.

The sweepstake was established because their was a need for investment in hospitals and medical services and the public finances were unable to meet this expense at the time. As the population of Ireland was unable to raise sufficient funds, because of its low population, a significant amount of the funds were raised in the United Kingdom and United States; often among the emigrant Irish populations.

The winner was determined based on the outcome of several horse races; amongst them, the Cambridgeshire, Derby and Grand National.

Demise

At the time of its inception, lotteries were generally illegal in the United Kingdom and United States. The sweepstakes became very popular in the absence of other readily available lotteries.

In the United Kingdom the sweepstakes caused some strain in Anglo-Irish relations, the Betting and Lotteries Act 1934 was passed by the parliament of the United Kingdom in order to prevent export and import of lottery related materials. The United States Congress had outlawed the use of the U.S. Mails for lottery purposes in 1890. However, a thriving black market sprang up for tickets in both jurisdictions. As governments relaxed their attitudes towards this form of gambling, and indeed went into the lottery business themselves, the sweepstakes declined in popularity.

From the 1960s onwards declining revenues became a reality for the sweepstake. The final sweepstake was held in January 1986 and as the company was unsuccessful for a licence bid which was won by An Post National Lottery Company the management company went into voluntary liquidation in March 1987. The Public Hospitals (Amendment) Act, 1990 was enacted for the orderly winding up of the scheme which had almost £500,000 (punt) in unclaimed prizes and interest accrued.

Reference

• The Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstake in Great Britain, 1930–87, Marie Coleman, Belfast PDF 112KB

Lotteries | Healthcare in the Republic of Ireland | Horse racing