Sir Francis Richard Cruise – Inventor of the Endoscope
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| Cruise's Endoscope |
For those of you who have had to undergo an endoscopy at some point in your lives, you might like to know that one of the people credited with the invention of the instrument used to investigate your insides was an Irish doctor by the name of Sir Francis Richard Cruise. His own endoscope was widely used for many years after he first demonstrated it in 1865 and it certainly helped to advance the exploration of human anatomy.
Cruise was born in Dublin in Mountjoy Square in 1834, the son of a solicitor and his early education took place in Clongowes Wood College and in Belvedere. He followed this by going to Trinity where he studied medicine and gained his clinical experience at the Richmond Hospital where he was supervised by
Sir Dominic Corrigan, among others. He also assisted Robert McDonnell in his research. McDonnell would later go to perform the first blood transfusion in Ireland in 1865. After his graduation in 1858 Cruise travelled in America. He returning to Ireland in 1859 and was granted his Licentiate from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, he was elected as a Fellow of the College in 1864. His MD was granted by Trinity College in 1861, his thesis was on the abnormal development of the female genital organs.
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| Sir Francis Richard Cruise |
Cruise began his work as a junior physician in the Mater Hospital when it opened in 1861 and his association with that hospital would last through his life. He also lectured in the Carmichael School and was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland from 1884 to 1886. Although he is best known for his work on endoscopy, Cruise published articles on a wide range of subjects including dislocations, bladder diseases and hypnotism, the latter being an area in which he developed an interest in the 1880s.
In addition to his medical writings, Cruise also published a biography of Thomas a Kempis and a translation of his work Imitatio Christi. He was considered to be an excellent shot with a rifle – a skill he had picked up while in America – and a proficient cellist. In 1859 he married Mary Frances and had six sons and three daughters. Cruise was knighted in 1896, although he declined the offer of a baronetcy ten years later. In 1901, King Edward VII appointed Cruise as his physician-in-ordinary in Ireland and in 1905 the Pope conferred on him a knighthood of St. Gregory.
Cruise died on February 26th 1912 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
References:
- Coakley, Davis, Irish Masters of Medicine. (1992), pp. 197-204
- Cruise, Sir Francis Richard, in the Kirkpatrick index, RCPI.
Ruth Talbot, Library Intern