Identifying the doctors who treated volunteers during the War of Independence (Kirkpatrick History of Medicine Award 2025 winner)

This blog post was written by Kevin Finnan, PhD candidate in Dublin City University (DCU). He has had a career in both the Energy sector and in Health. He worked for 15 years in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, and since retiring in 2022 has continued to follow his interest in history. His PhD looks at the role of the Medical Profession during the War of Independence (1919-1921). Kevin lives in Raheny, Dublin with his wife Margaret and son Eoin.

The Decade of Centenaries has given us a wealth of archival material. Though the material is primarily concerned with the political changes, it also gives us an insight into social life in Ireland at the start of the 20^th Century. The War of Independence resulted in almost 3,000 deaths and a comparable number of injuries. My research looks at the role of doctors during the War including the treatment of the wounded.

Injured British soldiers were treated locally by Army surgeons or in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) run King George V hospital , (now called St. Bricin’s Hospital). Wounded members of the RIC were treated locally or sent to Dr Steevens hospital for treatment. In the later stages of the war this system, which had been developed in peacetime, collapsed, and the police were then sent to King George V hospital.

One of the questions I wanted to answer in my research was;  which doctors were involved in the treatment of the IRA during the War of Independence? What was their background, age, political involvement if any? Answering this question is not so straight-forward. Doctors work is normally confidential, but these circumstances placed a high premium on confidentiality. Indeed, because these patients were involved in revolutionary activity, doctors often treated them in secret. 

The key to finding out which doctors treated wounded IRA was provided by the Military Service Pension Collection held by Military Archives, and in particular the wound pensions applications, which are an important subset of that collection. The wound pension applications identified which doctors provided treatments. These records were matched with the Kirkpatrick index of doctors from RCPI Archives, to research the doctors. At this stage I have built up a database of about 300 wound records with the associated doctors and hospitals where they are recorded.

What I found, in rural areas, was that these doctors were younger and Catholic. They had qualified during the preceding 10 to 20 years and they were established in their community. They generally had  qualified through the NUI or through the co-joint exam RCSI / RCPI. As my research continued, I noticed that depending on the severity of the wound, doctors worked together to treat the wounded. This treatment was given in safe houses; these houses were in remote places far from transport links. A good example of the extensive use of safe houses can be seen after the Knocklong Ambush of May 1919. In that case, four injured IRA men were all moved around for medical treatment. They were treated in four different safe houses by three different doctors and were moved over 77 Km between the safe houses.

When required patients were moved to Dublin for treatment. Moving people to Dublin was difficult. One of the problems was a lack of motor cars. There were also curfews and checkpoints and a permit system which restricted the use of cars.

Medical treatment in Dublin was different. In that city, the treatment afforded to wounded IRA men  was more likely to be hospital based. At that time there were twenty-six hospitals in Dublin. Many of these hospitals had distinctive religious or political identities. 

The hospitals which treated most of the IRA in Dublin were the Mater Misericordiae and Jervis Street Hospitals along with the Richmond hospital. These hospitals were located in a cluster on the northside, (Dublin 1 and 7). The Mater was Catholic owned and run, and the Mercy Nuns provided the nursing service in Jervis Street. The use of hospitals on this scale required not only the direct work of the treating doctors but the support or understanding of colleagues in the hospital.

Why these hospitals and not others such as St. Vincents? There was a changing of the guard on the medical staff at the Mater, Jervis and Richmond in between 1915 and 1921. In these hospitals a group of younger doctors began to take up leadership positions. This changed the political composition of the medical staff in these hospitals. These doctors were similar to the doctors in rural Ireland They were younger, Catholic and emerging out of a similar educational background. While the doctors in rural Ireland were from the locality and embedded in that community. These doctors were not originally from Dublin and were starting to put down roots in the city.

 Another interesting aspect of the health care in Dublin was those treated who were injured in rural Ireland. About 14% of those killed due to political violence in this period, died in Dublin. While the database records 31 (11%) people injured in Dublin City and county, a total of 76 (25%) were treated in Dublin hospitals. The other 45 came from 19 other counties across the country. In each of those 45 cases, a local doctor had already treated the patient. In order to get to Dublin, the wounded person needed a referral, under an assumed name, from a sympathetic doctor. and transport.

In summary local doctors provided initial treatment, often with the aid of colleagues. They were backed  up by doctors in hospitals locally and in Dublin. In Dublin there was a greater use of northside hospitals. A significant number of those wounded in provincial Ireland were moved to Dublin for treatment. The doctors were younger and Catholic with a similar education background, having qualified during the previous 10/20 years.

These doctors were from the generation that RF Foster describes as the revolutionary generation. Generally, however, they had no political affiliations. Most of these doctors did not look for any recognition from the new state, seeking neither a pension nor a medal. It is only through the evidence of their patients that we know of their involvement.

An example of the Kirkpatrick Index for Dr John Francis Keenan, Longford.

Military record for Matthew Larigan (File number 1P228), used with permission from the Military Archive, Ireland.