Sylvester O'Halloran (31 December 1728 – 11 August 1807) was an Irish

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

with an abiding interest in

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

poetry and history. For most of his life he lived and practised in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, and was later elected a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

(RIA).

Early life

O'Halloran was the third son of Michael O'Halloran, a prosperous farmer at

Caherdavin Caherdavin () is a northern suburban district of Limerick city in the mid-west of Ireland. As of 2022, the population of Caherdavin is 7,364. It is around 2.5 km west of the city centre. Local landmarks include the Moylish campus of TUS (f ...

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, 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 Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. He went on to a Limerick school run by Robert Cashin, a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, which was unusual at the time as the O'Hallorans were

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

s during the difficult time of the

Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

. Sylvester and his brothers engaged successfully in areas of life that worked around the restrictions of the Penal Laws. Joseph became a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and held chairs in rhetoric, philosophy and divinity at the Jesuit College at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

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 Richard Mead, FRSFRCP (11 August 1673 – 16 February 1754) was an English physician. His work, ''A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it'' (1720), was of historic importance in advancing t ...

, as well as the

oculist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

s Taylor and Hillmer. After further study at

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, and in Paris under the

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

Antoine Ferrein, 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 University Hospital, Limerick.National Institute of Health Sciences: About Sylvester O'Halloran
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 Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

. He was subsequently instrumental in founding the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

(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 A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

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'' (

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

; before 1750). *''A Treatise on the Glaucoma, or Cataract'' (

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, 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-Norman history of Ireland which had often been dismissed as a period of barbarism. His correspondents included

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...

on early history. With Charles O'Conor of Belanagare he discussed Macpherson's translated version of

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...

, 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.

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 J. C. 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'' (1772) *''Ierne Defended'' (1774) *''A general history of Ireland'' (1778)

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 Joseph O'Halloran GCB (13 August 1763 – 3 November 1843) was a major-general in the East India Company. Background O'Halloran was the youngest son of Sylvester O'Halloran, born in county Limerick, Ireland. On 22 February 1781 he was appointed ...

, the father of Thomas O'Halloran, after whom the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

suburb of O'Halloran Hill was named.

Limerick public life

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohalloran, Sylvester 18th-century Irish historians Irish surgeons Members of the Royal Irish Academy 1728 births 1807 deaths Medical doctors from Limerick (city) Writers from Limerick (city)