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| The Corleys holidaying in Peel on the Isle of Man in 1901 |
The photograph on the left is believed to show the wife of Dr. Anthony
Hagerty Corley (RCSI President 1887) and her children enjoying the sunshine at the
traditional Corley holiday spot of Peel on the Isle of Man. It was sent to the Heritage Collections by a distant relative of Dr. Corley's, Dr. John Richards from the University of Glasgow.
Dr. Anthony Hagerty Corley was born in Dublin on the 16th
March 1840. Corley’s professional training took place in the Ledwich School of
Medicine, the Queen’s College, Galway, the Mercer and Adelaide Hospitals. He
became a Licentiate of the RCSI in 1861 and graduated M.D. from Queen’s
University Galway in 1863. Dr. Corley’s career flourished with lecturing
positions in Anatomy and Surgery in the Carmichael College of Medicine; becoming
a Fellow of the RCSI in 1863; surgeon to the House of Industry Hospitals in
1865 and surgeon of Jervis Street Hospital in 1867. From 1874 to 1877 he held the office of
Examiner in Surgery in Queen’s University Galway and in 1882 the University
conferred him with the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa. When Queen’s university became the Royal University
in 1882, Corley was appointed Examiner in Surgery, made a Fellow and received
the honorary degree of Master in Surgery in 1885. Dr. Corley was elected
Vice-President of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1884 and President in 1887.
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| Dr. Anthony Hagerty Corley |
Dr. Corley married Eleanor de Courcey Purdon, younger daughter
of the
then Lord Mayor of Dublin Rt. Hon. Edward Purdon. They
had 3 sons and 4 daughters;
Anthony, Henry, Herbert,
Eleanor, Madeline, Ethel and Cathleen. Dr.
Corley's son and nephew, both named Anthony Hagerty Corley, followed their
father's and uncle's footsteps by becoming doctors. Dr. Corley's son graduated
M.D. in 1902 and headed south where be become Government Medical Officer in
Fiji and later Western Australia. But in September 1915 he was killed in
Gallipoli while serving as Captain of 11th Infantry Battalion. Dr.
Corley’s nephew took up the position of Army Doctor of the Royal Inniskilling
Fusiliers and entered the Boer War. The photograph below shows him carrying
out some dentistry work on a fellow soldier.
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| 'Dentistry on the Veld' |
Let us now turn our attention to the mystery of the portrait. It is tradition in the RCSI for the President to have their
portrait painted and then hung within the College once their term of office is
finished. Corley commissioned a portrait
of himself by the well known artist William Osborne in 1889. Dr. Corley died in
1890 and subsequently the portrait was never presented to the College. An email from a distant relation of Dr. Corley's inquiring about the portrait got us wondering, if the family dont have the portrait and the College doesn't have the portrait. Where in the world is the Osborne portrait of Dr. Anthony Hagerty Corley hanging today?
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy