Edmund O'Meara (1614–1681) Irish physiologist and one of the last prominent champions of the medical ideas of Galen

Galen

Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...

. Son of Dermod O'Meara

Dermod O'Meara

Dermod O'Meara was an Irish physician and poet, author of the first medical work printed in Dublin in 1619. He was the father of Edmund O'Meara.Dermod was the son of Domhnaill O'Meara, chief of the O'Meara sept and foster-father to Thomas Butler...

 who was a physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

. Edmund is remembered today for his criticism of vivisection

Vivisection

Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...

, stating that the agony suffered by animals distorted the research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 results, using this as a basis to reject William Harvey

William Harvey

William Harvey was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart...

's ideas about the circulatory system

Circulatory system

The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients , gases, hormones, blood cells, etc...

 and defend the earlier theories of Galen.

O'Meara wrote a epitapth for Malachy Ó Caollaidhe

Malachy Ó Caollaidhe

Malachy Ó Caollaidhe, also known as Malachy Queally, Malachias Quælly, O'Queely or O'Quechly was an Irish Roman Catholic archbishop of Tuam; he was called by Irish writers Maelseachlainn Ua Cadhla, by John Colgan Queleus, and erroneously by Thomas Carte, O'Kelly.-Life:He was son of Donatus Quælly,...

, but was unable to locate his grave.

See also

• Dermot O'Meara, physician, c. 1614-42.
• Barry Edward O'Meara
  Barry Edward O'Meara
  Barry Edward O'Meara was an Irish surgeon and founding member of the Reform Club, who accompanied Napoleon to St. Helena and became his physician, having been surgeon on board the Bellerophon when the emperor surrendered himself. He is remembered as the author of Napoleon in Exile, or A Voice...
  
  , surgeon, 1786-1836.
• Kathleen O'Meara
  Kathleen O'Meara
  Kathleen O'Meara is an Irish politician and member of the 21st and 22nd Seanads for the Labour Party in Ireland. On both occasions she was elected by the Agricultural Panel....
  
  , writer, 1839-1888.

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