Herbert William Gallagher

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

(1917–2007) was a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

medical professional, politician and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

officer. He attended

Methodist College, Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

and

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, where he studied medicine, matriculating in 1939. At the onset of

he volunteered for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Medical Corps. In 1940, he was travelling from Northern Ireland to England when the ship struck a mine outside

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Using his medical skills he tended to the casualties. His war service took him to Egypt and India. He married a nursing sister from the same unit. After being demobbed he trained as a surgeon at

Belfast City Hospital The Belfast City Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Chathair Bhéal Feirste) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block d ...

. After the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

was created, he became a Consultant at Banbridge and Newtownards Hospitals.

Affiliations

*Founder, Ulster Surgical Club *President,

Ulster Medical Society The Ulster Medical Society was formed in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1862 through the amalgamation of two older societies, the Belfast Medical Society which was founded in 1806, and the Belfast Clinical and Pathological Society which was fo ...

*Fellow, Royal Academy of Medicine (Ireland) *Fellow,

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

(Edinburgh) *Fellow,

(Ireland)

Retirement/death

He retired in 1977, aged 60. He became an Alliance Party councillor and a founding member of Comber Probus Club, which he attended till shortly before his death from throat cancer. He was a widower at the time of his death in 2007.Biodata, ibid.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Herbert 1917 births 2007 deaths Alumni of Queen's University Belfast People educated at Methodist College Belfast Deaths from cancer in Northern Ireland Deaths from esophageal cancer British Army personnel of World War II Surgeons from Northern Ireland Medical doctors from Belfast Medical doctors from County Down Royal Army Medical Corps officers 20th-century politicians from Northern Ireland 20th-century surgeons Military personnel from Belfast Military doctors from Northern Ireland