Irish medical families were hereditary practitioners of professional medicine in Gaelic Ireland, between 1100 and 1700.

Overview

Professional medical practitioners in the Gaelic world of Ireland and Scotland was mainly the preserve of a small number of learned families who passed the profession down generation by generation. This principle was practised by other learned families of poets, historians, musicians, lawyers.

According to Aoibheann Nic Dhonnchadha:

"These kindreds were involved in medical practise over successive generations, and, collectively, were responsible for the organisation and regulation of medical schools, the forumation and development of a curriculum

Curriculum

See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...

, the practical training of students, and the translation, composition and transmission of medical texts. Physicans enjoyed a high legal status in Gaelic society, and were supported by the hereditary tenure of lands that were granted to them by the landowning aristocracy in exchange for medical services ... While the precise nature and effectiveness of the treatment they gave their patients is unclear, the quality of the intellectual training Irish doctors received in their professional medicals schools was high. They were well equipped to offer their aristocratic employers a medical service that was informed by the best of contemporary scientific learning."

The families

Each province in Ireland had a number of families associated with medical practise. This list is not exhaustive:

Connacht

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...

:

• Mac an Leagha (Mac Kinley); Mac Beatha (Mac Veigh); Ó Ceanndubháin (Canavan); Ó Cearnaigh (Kearney); Ó Fearghusa (Fergus) Ó Maoil Tuile/Mac Maoil Tuile (Tully, Flood); Ó Laoi

Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

:

• Mac Duinnshléibhe (Donleavy) Ó Caiside
  Ó Caiside
  Ó Caiside is the name of a Gaelic-Irish family. It is now usually anglicised as Cassidy.The surname Ó Caiside was found in all regions of medieval Ireland, it been the name of several unrelated families....
  
   (Cassidy
  Cassidy
  Barry Adrian Reese better known by his stage name Cassidy, is an American rapper.-2004: Split Personality:Cassidy's first album, Split Personality, was released on March 16, 2004. There were two singles released from the album. The first single was "Hotel", which featured R. Kelly. The second...
  
  ); Ó Siadhail
  Ó Siadhail
  -Overview:There were at least three families of this name in Gaelic Ireland.* Ó Siadhail of Ui Maine, now east County Galway.* Ó Siadhail of Uí Failghe, now County Offaly and County Laois.* Ó Siadhail of Tír Chonaill, now County Donegal....
  
   (Shields)

Leinster

Leinster

Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...

:

• Mac Caisín (Cashin, Cash); Ó Bolgaidhe (Bolger) Ó Conchubhair (O Connor); Ó Cuileamhaim (Culhoun, Cullen
  Cullen (surname)
  Cullen is a surname of Scottish or Irish origin. Cullen is a surname of Scottish origin. Cullen is a village and former royal burgh in Moray, Scotland, on the North Sea coast 20 miles east of Elgin. The village now has a population of 1,327 and is famous for Cullen Skink...
  
  )

Munster

Munster

Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...

:

• Ó Callanáin (Callanan
  Callanan
  Callanan is an Irish surname, and may refer to:* Jeremiah Joseph Callanan , Irish poet* Joe Callanan , Irish politician* John Joe Callanan , Irish sportsperson* Johnny Callanan , Irish politician...
  
  ); Ó hÍceadha
  Ó hÍceadha
  -Overview:Ó hÍceadha is a surname especially associated with the Kingdom of Thomond, where bearers of the name were in successive generations a medical family who were physicians to the clans of the Dál gCais, as well as other premier families of Munster and Leinster.By tradition, the O'Hickeys...
  
   (Hickey
  Hickey
  A Hickey is a mark on the skin caused by amorous contact.Hickey may also refer to:* Hickey , including list of people with the surname* Hickey , melodic" punk band from San Francisco's Mission District...
  
  ) Ó Leighin (Lane), Ó Nialláin (Nealon
  Nealon
  Nealon is a surname of Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Ó Nialláin meaning "descendant of Niallán". The personal name Niallán is from a diminutive of the personal name Niall.The name refers to:...
  
  ) and Ó Troighthigh
  Ó Troighthigh
  -Overview:The Ui Troighthigh were natives of Thomond who removed to Ormond. They became a hereditary medical family, operating in what is now County Clare, County Limerick and County Tipperary, as well as elsewhere in Munster, and Leinster....
  
   (Troy)

The Texts

Aoibheann Nic Dhonnchadha writes:

"The extensive corpus of medical writing that survives in Irish comprises more than a hundred manuscripts written during the period c. 1400 to c. 1700. These documents, most of which are housed in Irish libraries, are the most important written record extant for the institutional organisation and medical practise of physicians in late medieval and early modern Ireland and Scotland."

Among those that survive are:

• RIA MS 439 (3 C 19) - written by Risteard Ó Conchubhair (1561-1625) and Giolla Pádraig mac Donnchadh Óg Ó Conchubhair
• NLS 73.1.22 - by Donnchadh Albanach Ó Conchubhair (1571-1647)
• RIA ms 996 (23 N 17)
• TCD ms 1372 - partly written by Giolla Pádraig mac Giolla na Naomh Ó Conchubhair
• NLI G 11 - written mainly by Donnchadh Ó Bolgaidhe, fl.1466-75.
• NLI G 12
• RIA MS 23 P 10 ii - The Book of the Ó Lee's or The Book of Hy Brasil
• Liber Flavus Fergusiorum - compiled by in the 14th century by the Ó Fearghusa of Connacht.

See also

• Crichaireacht cinedach nduchasa Muintiri Murchada
  Crichaireacht cinedach nduchasa Muintiri Murchada
  Crichaireacht cinedach nduchasa Muintiri Murchada is a tract concerning the medieval territory called Muintir Murchada, located in County Galway, Ireland.-Outline:...
  
  lists the families of Ó Ceanndubháin and Ó Laoi as physicians to Ó Flaithbhertaigh
• Medieval medicine
  Medieval medicine
  Medieval medicine in Western Europe was composed of a mixture of existing ideas from antiquity, spiritual influences and what Claude Lévi-Strauss identifies as the "shamanistic complex" and "social consensus." In this era, there was no tradition of scientific medicine, and observations went...
  
  

External links

• Royal Irish Academy MS 23 P 10 (ii) (The Book of The O'Lees or The Book of Hy Brasil)
• http://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/II-XIV-1.php