Remembering Dr George Murnaghan

Dr George Murnaghan FRCPI

We were saddened to hear of the passing of one our Fellows and the first Director of Higher Medical Training in RCPI, Dr George Murnaghan.

George Anthony Murnaghan was born in Dublin in 1937. He studied medicine in University College Dublin, qualifying in 1962. His professional life was largely spent in Northern Ireland, following an appointment as consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist to the Royal Maternity and Royal Hospitals in Belfast in 1974. He received the Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1981, and Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1996. 

Dr Murnaghan retired from active practice in 1987 as the result of back problems but went on to develop a new and successful career in medical administration. He was appointed Director of Risk and Litigation Management in the Royal Group of Hospitals Trust in Belfast in 1989, gaining a high-level of expertise in administration, training and technology. 

In 1997 Dr Murnaghan was appointed the first Director of Higher Medical Training in RCPI. This newly created post had responsibility for curriculum development, the approval of training posts and the recruitment and selection to the new specialist registrar posts. He also oversaw the implementation of the annual assessment of these new training post. Dr Murnaghan retired from the post in 2007, and on looking back on his time in RCPI he recalled, “I left a process that was up and running, and although it’s for others to judge whether or not I had done a good job, I received great fulfilment from my role as Director”.

George Murnaghan married Frances Boggan, who pre-deceased him, they had four children Mary, Paul, Mark and David. Dr Murnaghan died at his home in Belfast on 26 December 2020.