Veronica L., a woman with an intellectual disability, died of starvation in 1961 while the recipient of a Disabled Person's Maintenance Allowance (D.P.M.A.) from the Dublin Health Authority. Her death occured after a prolonged period of deficient care, a neglect that was exacerbated by flaws in statutory welfare. During the preceding decade the state intervened in disability provision to an unprecedented degree through the expansion of institutional care and social welfare reform. Yet, these services remained characterised by a chronic pressure on resources and a reluctance to intervene in potentially neglectful family situations, which allowed cases of failing care to go unaddressed. Drawing on contemporary documents, in particular the depositions collected for the coroner's court inquest into Veronica's death, this article offers an insight into the exigencies underlying the later life of one woman with an intellectual disability. In doing so, it explores the way in which this singular case provides a distinctive avenue for better understanding the experiences of the intellectually disabled more broadly, including the nature of community care and the operation of statutory welfare during the mid twentieth century.

中文翻译：

---

Veronica L.之死：二十世纪中叶爱尔兰的智力残疾和法定福利

Veronica L. 是一名智障女性，于 1961 年在都柏林卫生局领取残疾人维持津贴 (DPMA) 时死于饥饿。她的死是在长期缺乏照料之后发生的，而法定福利的缺陷加剧了这种忽视。在过去的十年中，国家通过扩大机构照料和社会福利改革，以前所未有的程度干预残疾服务。然而，这些服务的特点仍然是对资源的长期压力以及不愿干预可能被忽视的家庭情况，这使得护理失败的案例得不到解决。利用当代文件，特别是为验尸官对维罗妮卡之死进行调查而收集的证词，本文深入探讨了一位智障女性晚年生活中的紧急情况。在此过程中，它探讨了这一独特案例如何为更广泛地更好地理解智障人士的经历提供了独特的途径，包括社区护理的性质和 20 世纪中叶法定福利的运作。