The Irish Medical Profession and the First World War

This book examines the role of the Irish medical profession in the First World War. It assesses the extent of its involvement in the conflict while also interrogating the effect of global war on the development of Ireland's domestic medical infrastructure, especially its hospital network. The study explores the factors that encouraged Ireland's medical personnel to join the British Army medical services and uncovers how Irish hospital governors, in the face of increasing staff shortages and economic inflation, ensured that Ireland's voluntary hospital network survived the war. It also considers how Ireland's wartime doctors reintegrated into an Irish society that had experienced a profound shift in political opinion towards their involvement in the conflict and subsequently became embroiled in its own Civil War. In doing so, this book provides the first comprehensive study of the effect of the First World War on the medical profession in Ireland.

Awarded a commendation prize for the 2021 NUI Publication Prize in Irish History Examines the role of the Irish medical profession during the First World War Uncovers the key concerns related to Irish medical involvement in the British Army in the First World War and highlights the broader significance of the conflict on the twentieth-century development of Irish healthcare Considers both the physical, mental and emotional impact of war on Irish doctors and nurses, as well as the effect of war on the development of Ireland's domestic medical infrastructure

Autorentext

David Durnin completed his PhD in History at the Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland, University College Dublin, Ireland. He has received several grants and awards for his work including an Irish Research Council postgraduate scholarship and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland History of Medicine Research Award.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- 2 Recruitment and Irish Medical Personnel, 1914-18.- 3 Irish Medical Personnel: Motivations and Wartime Experiences, 1914-18.- 4 The First World War and Hospitals in Ireland, 1914-18.- 5 British Army Medical Personnel in Post-War Ireland, 1918-25.- 6 The Impact of the First World War on Irish Hospitals, 1918-25.- 7 Conclusions.-