Prof Mary Daly, College Principal in the UCD College of Arts and Celtic Studies
The often ignored history of medicine in Ireland enters centre stage in UCD’s School of History and Archives with a Wellcome Trust Strategic Enhancement Award worth €400,000.
“This award will allow the further development of medical history in Ireland as an established discipline, building it up as a research topic, raising its profile among academics, medical professionals and the public at large through a variety of outreach activities – outreach activities that were praised by Wellcome Trust”, said Professor Mary Daly, College Principal in the UCD College of Arts and Celtic Studies.
“Our partnership with the University of Ulster will ensure that the research has an all-Ireland and cross-border dimension”, said Professor Daly. “Initial research will concentrate on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, concentrating on medical practices and practitioners with allied projects on child health, birth control and maternal health. There are so many questions to be answered, like for example, why, up to 1945, so many women died younger than men, especially in rural Ireland?”
At UCD the research will be directed by Professor Daly and Dr Catherine Cox, while Professor Greta Jones, a pioneer in the history of medicine in Ireland will direct research at the University of Ulster.
Researchers will examine the organisation and development of medical professions, the survival of alternative medical practices, the growth of medical specialities , and how health care was delivered, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. They will also examine the differences that existed north and south of the border, and the effect that general life and conditions in Ireland had on the development of medicine.
“Initially we want to train up early stage researchers who will drive the project forward. Ultimately we aim to establish a centre of excellence on the history of medicine in Ireland that would provide research training of future medical historians to develop Irish medical history”, said Professor Daly.
