George Alexander Kennedy; Dun’s Librarian 1846-1865
This is another post in our series on Dun's Librarians; this time focusing on the last doctor to hold the post of Dun's Librarian before it became an honorary position for Fellows and a non-medic took over the day-to-day running of the library.
 |
| Index to the journals compiled by G. A. Kennedy |
George Alexander Kennedy was born in the East Indies in
1794. He was the eldest son of a retired merchant, James John Kennedy, who
settled in Dublin in 1800. He obtained a BA from Trinity and went on to study
medicine in Dublin and Edinburgh. On 24th November 1824 he obtained
his license from the College of Physicians in Ireland and went on to be elected
a Fellow in January, 1827. Kennedy was a very well-respected man amongst his
peers and was elected to the position of President on no less than three
occasions, 1838, 1839 and 1840.
In April 1846 Dr. Kennedy resigned his Fellowship in order
to take the position of Professor in the School of Physic in Trinity College
Dublin. At this time appointment to certain university positions required RCPI
Fellows to resign their Fellowship; however, an order of Honorary Fellowship
was created which allowed these men to retain their links to RCPI but without
voting rights. Dr Kennedy began his time as Dun’s Librarian three months before
he took the teaching position. He was allowed to retain his position in the
library as an Honorary Fellow, and he held the title of Dun’s Librarian until
his death in March 1865.
Kennedy was a physician to the Sick Poor Dispensary, Meath
St. and to the Cork Street Fever Hospital, Dublin. He lectured on medicine in
the former institution and also in the Peter Street Medical School, and he also
wrote some medical reports on the fever hospital. Some of the medical reports
written by Dr. Kennedy remain in the library to this day and other books were
clearly given to the library by him.
 |
| Handwriting from manuscript notes |
There is a book inscribed with “Ex donis G.A. Kennedy
Biblioteca” and others that state that the volume was presented to the Library
by G. A. Kennedy, which seem to have been donated in 1841 before he even became
Dun’s Librarian. Donations include books about the Royal College of Physicians
in London, annals of pharmacy and material medica which outline the history of
these subjects and “A treatise on some
practical points relating to the diseases of the eye.”
Kennedy also
provided the College with an Index to the Journals of the College from 1693 to
1841; this would have taken a huge amount of time and effort to complete. Another
interesting donation still available in our archives is a bound volume
containing manuscript notes on arteries taken from the lectures by John Kirby
and Abraham Colles, as well as some published works. It is possible that
Kennedy took the notes as the handwriting is quite similar to that contained in
the index, and the volume also contains his signature.
 |
| Handwriting from the Index |
Unfortunately, we have no image of George Alexander Kennedy,
and he is one of only a few Presidents whose image isn’t contained in the
archive.
G.A. Kennedy lived to the age of 71. In his lifetime he was
a physician, an author, a professor and the last medically trained working
librarian in Dun’s Library.
An obituary states that “he died unmarried on the 4th
March 1865 and was interred in Mount Jerome cemetery.” However a marriage
announcement in the Irish Times, November 12, 1915, names Henry William
Kennedy, the groom, as the only son of George Alexander Kennedy M.D. Although this may be a mistake by the paper,
this information and the lack of an image give G. A. Kennedy a slight air of
mystery.
Sarah Kennedy
Library Intern