With the approach of International Women's Day (8th March) we at the RCSI Heritage Collections decided to look into the archives and tell the stories of two remarkable women whose collections are housed here.
Victoria P. Coffey (1911-1999) was an outstanding expert in the field of congenital abnormalities. A Dubliner who studied medicine in the RCSI receiving her license in 1936. Coffey gained experience in obstetrics and children's diseases in the Meath and St. Kevin's Hospitals. She received her DPH Diploma from the RCSI in 1943. She held numerous positions such as Extern Assistant in Harcourt Street Children's Hospital, Dublin; Consultant Paediatrician in St. Patrick's Home, Navan Road, Dublin; past president of the Irish Paediatric Association, Biological Society (RCSI) and the Irish and American Paediatric Society 1974-1976 among others.
Coffey along with Prof. Patrick Moore were among the pioneers in Ireland in the study of metabolic disorders in the new-born. She also studied the effects of maternal viral infections on the new-born and was an early investigator of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Coffey was a prolific writer covering nearly all aspects of congenital disorders and produced at least one published work every year from 1953 to 1990.
She was elected as honorary Fellow of the American College of Physicians in 1978 and conferred with a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1979. Coffey died in August 1999 having made huge inroads into the study and understanding of congenital disorders.
Dr. Christine Matthews was an expert in quite a different field, that of scientific research. Matthews graduated from Trinity College Dublin after gaining a Double First in Arts and Science in 1950. While studying for her PhD she was employed as a research assistant in the RCSI. She received her doctorate in 1953 and in 1955 went to London to join the staff of the Medical Research Council at Mill Hill. The Heritage Collections has 22 notebooks from when Matthews was a student in Trinity College Dublin.
From 1957 to 1960 Matthews attended evening classes at the Chelsea College of Science and Technology. In 1959 she became Isotope Physicist at the Medical Research Council Cyclotrone Unit in Hammersmith Hospital. After Matthews visited Vellore Hospital in South India she decided to devote her work and life to helping the medical needs of the community there. After undertaking missionary training for a time at Crowther Hall, the Church Mission Society Training College at Selly Oak.
In 1970 she began working in community health care in Vellore, followed by Yellagiri Hills and then a larger health programme at Ambillikai. For the next 19 years Matthews lived and working in South India.
Tragically in March 1989 Dr. Christine Matthews was killed in a motorbike accident in Ambillikai, South India.
These are just two of a multitude of unknown remarkable women we honour on International Women's Day who were pioneers in their field and worked relentlessly to help others.
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy
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| Victoria Coffey (1911-1999) |
Victoria P. Coffey (1911-1999) was an outstanding expert in the field of congenital abnormalities. A Dubliner who studied medicine in the RCSI receiving her license in 1936. Coffey gained experience in obstetrics and children's diseases in the Meath and St. Kevin's Hospitals. She received her DPH Diploma from the RCSI in 1943. She held numerous positions such as Extern Assistant in Harcourt Street Children's Hospital, Dublin; Consultant Paediatrician in St. Patrick's Home, Navan Road, Dublin; past president of the Irish Paediatric Association, Biological Society (RCSI) and the Irish and American Paediatric Society 1974-1976 among others.
Coffey along with Prof. Patrick Moore were among the pioneers in Ireland in the study of metabolic disorders in the new-born. She also studied the effects of maternal viral infections on the new-born and was an early investigator of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Coffey was a prolific writer covering nearly all aspects of congenital disorders and produced at least one published work every year from 1953 to 1990.
She was elected as honorary Fellow of the American College of Physicians in 1978 and conferred with a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1979. Coffey died in August 1999 having made huge inroads into the study and understanding of congenital disorders.
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| A published work of Coffey's featured in the British Medical Association Journal |
Dr. Christine Matthews was an expert in quite a different field, that of scientific research. Matthews graduated from Trinity College Dublin after gaining a Double First in Arts and Science in 1950. While studying for her PhD she was employed as a research assistant in the RCSI. She received her doctorate in 1953 and in 1955 went to London to join the staff of the Medical Research Council at Mill Hill. The Heritage Collections has 22 notebooks from when Matthews was a student in Trinity College Dublin.
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| Notes taken by Matthews during her time as a student in Trinity College Dublin |
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| Notes taken by Matthews during her time as a student in Trinity College Dublin |
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| Dr. Christine Matthews |
From 1957 to 1960 Matthews attended evening classes at the Chelsea College of Science and Technology. In 1959 she became Isotope Physicist at the Medical Research Council Cyclotrone Unit in Hammersmith Hospital. After Matthews visited Vellore Hospital in South India she decided to devote her work and life to helping the medical needs of the community there. After undertaking missionary training for a time at Crowther Hall, the Church Mission Society Training College at Selly Oak.
In 1970 she began working in community health care in Vellore, followed by Yellagiri Hills and then a larger health programme at Ambillikai. For the next 19 years Matthews lived and working in South India.
Tragically in March 1989 Dr. Christine Matthews was killed in a motorbike accident in Ambillikai, South India.
These are just two of a multitude of unknown remarkable women we honour on International Women's Day who were pioneers in their field and worked relentlessly to help others.
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy