History
Welcome to this history section of the College website. The focus is on the history of our specialty and with reference to the development of Anaesthesia in Ireland. We hope the reader, whether a novice or more informed will find these short pieces engaging and may prompt further interest.
You can also read more about the important people who helped shape the History of Anaesthesia in Ireland:
John McDonnell
1746 – 1892
Crawford Williamson Long
1815 – 1878
Ella Webb
1877 – 1976
Sarah Joyce O’Malley
1896 – 1959
Thomas James Gilmartin
1905 – 1986
Safety as we Watch
The definitive text “Safety as we Watch. Anaesthesia in Ireland 1847-1998” by Declan Warde, Joseph Tracey and John Cahill was published in 2022 by Eastwood Books having being commissioned by the College.
That year marked the 175th Anniversary of the first Ether Anaesthesia in Ireland which was administered on January 1st 1847 at The Richmond Hospital, Dublin. Surgeon John McDonnell amputated an arm from Mary Kane of Drogheda only a few weeks after the first demonstration of the anaesthetic effects of ether in Boston in October, 1846 by William Morton. The College crest has elements of the McDonnell coat of arms in acknowledgement.
Dr John Loughrey, Heritage Working Group.