Heritage Centre Lectures - Irish Medicine and World War I
This year’s Heritage Centre Lectures, part
of the St Luke’s Symposium, will focus on the impact of the First World War on
the medical profession in Ireland.
The outbreak of war in 1914 had a huge impact
on the medical profession in Ireland, with thousand of Irish medics serving in
the armed forces. The need for qualified medical personnel was a constant
concern for the armed forces, and six days before the United Kingdom declared
war on German the Director-General of the Royal Army Medical Corps wrote to the
Registrar of RCPI asking ‘if
you would be good enough to recommend young qualified practitioners to
volunteer for service as Temporary Surgeons in the Royal Navy, should it be
necessary to mobilise the Fleet’.
RCPI supported the frequent requests made
for medical men to join the war effort, but also acknowledge the need for
adequate medical provision at home. In March 1915 in an address to the new Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, RCPI stated that ‘In
this great cause the Fellows, Members and Licentiates of this College are
willingly taking their part both at home and abroad, endeavouring, as far as in
them lies, to bring health and healing to those who have suffered, and to ward
off those attacks of disease which have so often proved the most dangerous
enemies of armies in the field.
The
conflicting demands of the war and home front on the medical profession, as
well as the experience of individuals, and the new medical conditions resulting
from the war will all be covered by the lectures. David Durnin, who has recently completed a
PhD on the topic, will speak on the impact of the First World War on Irish
Hospitals, while Mr Joe Duignan will address the experience of Irish doctors on
active service. Prof Brendan Kelly, FRCPI, will present on his resent research
into the treatment of shell shock in the Richmond War Hospital in Dublin.
In
the afternoon a session will explore the wider impact of the First World War on
Irish Culture, with contributions from Prof Jeffrey, Queen’s University
Belfast, and Brian Doyle, Irish Traditional Music Archive. A parallel session
will see presentation from the applicants for this year’s Kirkpatrick History
of Medicine Award, which celebrates recent research in the field of medical
history.
The event is open to all and is free of charge.