Sylvester O'Halloran
Encyclopedia
Sylvester O'Halloran was an Irish
surgeon
with an abiding interest in Gaelic
poetry
and history
. For most of his life he lived and practised in Limerick
, and was later elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy
(RIA).
, County Limerick
, and his wife Mary McDonnell. He was named after Sylvester Lloyd, the titular Catholic bishop of Killaloe
in 1728-39. His mother's cousin Sean Claragh McDonnell taught him much at an early age, including some Greek
and Latin
. He went on to a Limerick school run by Robert Cashin, a Protestant clergyman, which was unusual at the time as the O'Hallorans were Roman Catholics during the difficult time of the Penal Laws.
Sylvester and his brothers engaged successfully in areas of life that worked around the restrictions of the Penal Laws. Joseph became a Jesuit and held chairs in rhetoric, philosophy and divinity at the Jesuit College at Bordeaux
in France
. George became a jeweller and in time a property-owner. Sylvester went to London
to learn medicine at the age of 17, particularly studying the methods of Richard Mead
, as well as the oculists Taylor and Hillmer. After further study at Leyden, and in Paris
under the anatomist
and academician Antoine Ferrein
, he set up practice as a surgeon in Limerick in early 1749.
While in France, he had been very impressed with the Académie Royale de Chirurgie, which had been founded in Paris in 1731 during the reign of Louis XV. He was subsequently instrumental in founding the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
(RCSI), by writing its blueprint, the Proposals for the Advancement of Surgery in Ireland in 1765. In 1780 he was made an honorary member of the new "Dublin Society of Surgeons", and when the RCSI received its charter
in 1784 he was again elected an honorary member, equivalent to a Fellowship today.
In his last work O'Halloran contributes to Irish social history, as the head injuries he treated were often caused by fights aggravated by alcohol abuse. On page 4 he commented:
history of Ireland which had often been dismissed as a period of barbarism.
His correspondents included Edmund Burke
on early history. With Charles O'Conor of Belanagare
he discussed Macpherson's
translated version of Ossian
, and advised him about an eye complaint.
In 1789 Charlotte Brooke published the first English-language compendium of Irish poetry, the seminal "Reliques of Irish Poetry", giving full due to O'Halloran for lending her his manuscript collection and for having written the essential history underlying her anthology
.
The historian JC Beckett (1912–96) included O'Halloran among those aiming: to vindicate its claims by uncritical admiration for the achievements of pre-Norman Ireland.
, after whom the Adelaide
suburb of O'Halloran Hill
was named.
Though politically restricted in his life by the Penal Laws, O'Halloran helped establish the county Infirmary (see above), was elected President of the city's Free Debating Society in 1772 and was elected to a committee in 1783 that examined the Shannon
navigation. Appropriately a Limerick bridge over the Shannon has been named after him.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
with an abiding interest in Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. For most of his life he lived and practised in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, and was later elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...
(RIA).
Early life
O'Halloran was the third son of Michael O'Halloran, a prosperous farmer at CaherdavinCaherdavin
Caherdavin is a northern suburban district of Limerick City in the mid-west of Ireland. It had a population in 2002 of 6,613....
, County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, and his wife Mary McDonnell. He was named after Sylvester Lloyd, the titular Catholic bishop of Killaloe
Diocese of Killaloe
The Diocese of Killaloe may refer either to a Roman Catholic or a Church of Ireland diocese, in Ireland.-Roman Catholic diocese:The Diocese of Killaloe is the second largest Roman Catholic diocese in Ireland....
in 1728-39. His mother's cousin Sean Claragh McDonnell taught him much at an early age, including some Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. He went on to a Limerick school run by Robert Cashin, a Protestant clergyman, which was unusual at the time as the O'Hallorans were Roman Catholics during the difficult time of the Penal Laws.
Sylvester and his brothers engaged successfully in areas of life that worked around the restrictions of the Penal Laws. Joseph became a Jesuit and held chairs in rhetoric, philosophy and divinity at the Jesuit College at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. George became a jeweller and in time a property-owner. Sylvester went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to learn medicine at the age of 17, particularly studying the methods of Richard Mead
Richard Mead
Richard Mead was an English physician. His work, A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it , was of historic importance in the understanding of transmissible diseases.-Life:The eleventh child of Matthew Mead , Independent divine, Richard was born...
, as well as the oculists Taylor and Hillmer. After further study at Leyden, and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
under the anatomist
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
and academician Antoine Ferrein
Antoine Ferrein
Antoine Ferrein was a French anatomist who was a native of Frespech, which today is a commune in the arrondissement of Villeneuve-sur-Lot...
, he set up practice as a surgeon in Limerick in early 1749.
Career as surgeon
O'Halloran wrote several learned treatises on medical matters, and his fame was acknowledged by his membership of the RIA in 1787. He was a founder of the County Limerick Infirmary that started with 4 beds in 1761 before moving to larger premises at St Francis's Abbey in 1765. The foundation stone of the original infirmary is now preserved in the Sylvester O'Halloran Post Graduate Centre at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.While in France, he had been very impressed with the Académie Royale de Chirurgie, which had been founded in Paris in 1731 during the reign of Louis XV. He was subsequently instrumental in founding the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland , is a Dublin-based medical institution, situated on St. Stephen's Green. The college is one of the five Recognised Colleges of the National University of Ireland...
(RCSI), by writing its blueprint, the Proposals for the Advancement of Surgery in Ireland in 1765. In 1780 he was made an honorary member of the new "Dublin Society of Surgeons", and when the RCSI received its charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in 1784 he was again elected an honorary member, equivalent to a Fellowship today.
Medical bibliography
- A New Philosophical and Medical Treatise on the Air (manuscriptManuscriptA manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
; before 1750). - A Treatise on the Glaucoma, or Cataract (Dublin, 1750).
- A New Method of Amputation (1763).
- Gangrene and Sphacelus (1765).
- A New Treatise on the Different Disorders arising from External Injuries to the Head (1793).
In his last work O'Halloran contributes to Irish social history, as the head injuries he treated were often caused by fights aggravated by alcohol abuse. On page 4 he commented:
- "...for our people, invincibly brave, notwithstanding the cruel oppressions they have suffered for a century past, and highly irritable, soon catch fire; a slight offence is frequently followed by serious consequences; and sticks, stones, and every species of offence next to hand, are dealt out with great liberality! To this add the frequent abuse of spirituous liquors, particularly whiskey, which has, unhappily for the morals and constitutions of the people, found its way to every part of the kingdom."
Student of Gaelic poetry
As well as his scientific knowledge, O'Halloran's interest in the arts began with his collection of Gaelic poetry manuscripts and this led on to an interest in Irish history. Given his background, he argued to validate the pre-NormanGaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland is the name given to the period when a Gaelic political order existed in Ireland. The order continued to exist after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans until about 1607 AD...
history of Ireland which had often been dismissed as a period of barbarism.
His correspondents included Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
on early history. With Charles O'Conor of Belanagare
Charles O'Conor (historian)
Charles O'Conor Don, The O'Conor Don, Prince of Connacht of Belanagare was an Irish writer and antiquarian who was enormously influential as a protagonist for the preservation of Irish culture and history in the eighteenth century...
he discussed Macpherson's
James Macpherson
James Macpherson was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of poems.-Early life:...
translated version of Ossian
Ossian
Ossian is the narrator and supposed author of a cycle of poems which the Scottish poet James Macpherson claimed to have translated from ancient sources in the Scots Gaelic. He is based on Oisín, son of Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill, anglicised to Finn McCool, a character from Irish mythology...
, and advised him about an eye complaint.
In 1789 Charlotte Brooke published the first English-language compendium of Irish poetry, the seminal "Reliques of Irish Poetry", giving full due to O'Halloran for lending her his manuscript collection and for having written the essential history underlying her anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
.
Critics
As an early sympathetic historian of the Gaelic world in English, O'Halloran has faced criticism for being too sympathetic. In the 1770s a critic suggested he should:- drop any more scribbling, and mind the Systole and Diastole of the human body, which I suppose you are more acquainted with than history.
The historian JC Beckett (1912–96) included O'Halloran among those aiming: to vindicate its claims by uncritical admiration for the achievements of pre-Norman Ireland.
Historical bibliography
- An introduction to the study of the Antiquities of Ireland (1770)
- Ierne Defended (1774)
- A general history of Ireland (1775)
Family life
In 1752 Sylvester married Mary Casey and they had four sons and a daughter. Their homes were in Change Lane and then on Merchants' Quay; Mary died in 1782. O'Halloran was buried in 1807 at St. Munchin's graveyard, at Killeely which is now a suburb of Limerick. One of their sons was Major-General Sir Joseph O'Halloran, the father of Thomas O'HalloranThomas Shuldham O'Halloran
Thomas Shuldham O'Halloran was the first Police Commissioner and first Police Magistrate of South Australia.O'Halloran was born in India, the second of eight sons of Major-General Sir Joseph O'Halloran, and a grandson of Irish surgeon Sylvester O%27Halloran.He entered the Royal Military College,...
, after whom the Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
suburb of O'Halloran Hill
O'Halloran Hill, South Australia
O'Halloran Hill is a suburb in the south of Adelaide, South Australia, situated on the hills south of the O'Halloran Hill Escarpment, which rises from the Adelaide Plains and located 18 km from the city centre via the Main South Road...
was named.
Limerick public life
River Shannon
The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland at . It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
navigation. Appropriately a Limerick bridge over the Shannon has been named after him.
Further reading
- "Illustrious Physicians and Surgeons in Ireland" by William WildeWilliam WildeSir William Robert Wills Wilde MD, FRCSI, was an Irish eye and ear surgeon, as well as an author of significant works on medicine, archaeology and folklore, particularly concerning his native Ireland...
, Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medicine (1848) pp. 223–250. - Dictionary of National Biography XIV pp. 951–952.
- "A forgotten Limerick genius", essay by K. Hannan, The Old Limerick Journal (1987) pp. 4–7.