Opening Dusty Boxes – The Life of a County Surgeon in Edwardian Ireland. (by Neil J Brennan)

An Account of the Life and Times of Dr Neil John Blayney

This was clearly a labour of love for Neil Brennan, a Cork based Respiratory Physician and past President of the Irish Medical Organisation. It is a well-researched and very readable account of the life of his maternal grandfather Neil John Blayney from his education at St. Malachy’s College in the late 1880s to his death during the influenza pandemic of 1919. Neil John’s participation in sport, travel, medicine and politics are explored with the help of family photographs, letters and newspaper cuttings.

Two brothers Daniel and Alexander were also at the College. The author describes how the brothers later helped to found Bohemians FC, one of Ireland’s oldest soccer clubs. John also excelled at rugby and tennis. A fascinating chapter recounts a voyage as Ship’s Doctor to Valparaiso before his appointment as County Surgeon in Queen’s County Infirmary in Maryborough (now Portlaoise). It would have been interesting to have heard more of his time as Medical Officer to the local RIC barracks. His membership of the Gaelic League and moderate but forthright views on the ‘Ulster Question’ suggested a fervent but peace-loving nationalism, not untypical of Malachians of his generation.

[Opening Dusty Boxes by Neil J Brennan, Lettertec, £14. 99]