In April 1865 Mary Anne Dooley, a 14 year old girl, was brought to Jervis St. Hospital after an accident in the paper mill where she worked had left her right hand lacerated and torn. On duty was a respected and learned medical man who decided that in one last attempt to save the girl's life he would attempt the first ever human to human blood transfusion in Ireland. This man was Robert McDonnell.
McDonnell was a confident surgeon who came from a prominent medical family. His father, John McDonnell, had carried out the first amputation using ether as an inhalation anaesthetic in Ireland on New Years Day 1847 in the Richmond Hospital. So you can say Robert was definitely following in his father's first steps!
Robert was born in 1828 in Dublin. He entered Trinity College Dublin in 1844 and was apprenticed to Richard Carmichael in November 1845. He graduated with B.A and M.B in 1850 and obtained his Licence from the RCSI in February 1851. Robert was elected a Fellow in August 1853. He then went abroad to further his medical studies spending time in Edinburgh, Paris and Vienna. When he returned to Dublin in 1856 he was appointed to a number of positions including Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Carmichael School of Medicine, Surgeon to both the Jervis St. and Dr. Steevens' Hospitals in 1863 and was a member of Royal Commissions on the Medical Acts 1881-82 and on Prisons in Ireland 1882-83. Robert was elected President of the College in 1877.
When presented with Mary Anne Dooley in Jervis St. Hospital Robert decided to try a technique he had read and studied but had never preformed before. He took 12 fluid ounces of blood from his own arm. He stirred and strained the blood to get rid of any clots of fibrin. Then he syringed it back into Mary Anne's arm. The girl improved but only for a short time and ended up dying the next day. Robert wrote a paper on his transfusion method which was published in the November 1870 Dublin Journal of Medical Science. The failure of this first transfusion only increased Robert's drive to study blood transfusions further. Between 1865 and 1877 a further 15 blood transfusions were carried out with Robert leading the majority of these.
Unfortunately Robert died at the young age of 61 from a cardiac aneurysm in his home on Merrion Square.
Handwritten lecture notes used by Robert when he was teaching in the Carmichael School of Medicine are on display in the RCSI for Heritage Week along with a number of other intriguing history of medicine items.
Robert McDonnell was a medical man who through his investigations helped to push forward the boundaries of medicine. This drive is plainly evident in his courage to attempt the first blood transfusion in Ireland nearly 150 years ago.
For more on this see also
http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/was-dracula-an-irishman-2/
http://www.ingeniousirelandonline.ie/en/stories/st0002.xml?page=3
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy
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| Robert McDonnell (1828-1889) |
Robert was born in 1828 in Dublin. He entered Trinity College Dublin in 1844 and was apprenticed to Richard Carmichael in November 1845. He graduated with B.A and M.B in 1850 and obtained his Licence from the RCSI in February 1851. Robert was elected a Fellow in August 1853. He then went abroad to further his medical studies spending time in Edinburgh, Paris and Vienna. When he returned to Dublin in 1856 he was appointed to a number of positions including Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Carmichael School of Medicine, Surgeon to both the Jervis St. and Dr. Steevens' Hospitals in 1863 and was a member of Royal Commissions on the Medical Acts 1881-82 and on Prisons in Ireland 1882-83. Robert was elected President of the College in 1877.
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| Robert McDonnell's blood transfusion apparatus (RCSI/MI/224) |
When presented with Mary Anne Dooley in Jervis St. Hospital Robert decided to try a technique he had read and studied but had never preformed before. He took 12 fluid ounces of blood from his own arm. He stirred and strained the blood to get rid of any clots of fibrin. Then he syringed it back into Mary Anne's arm. The girl improved but only for a short time and ended up dying the next day. Robert wrote a paper on his transfusion method which was published in the November 1870 Dublin Journal of Medical Science. The failure of this first transfusion only increased Robert's drive to study blood transfusions further. Between 1865 and 1877 a further 15 blood transfusions were carried out with Robert leading the majority of these.
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| Dublin Journal of Medical Science November 1870 |
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| Dublin Journal of Medical Science November 1870 |
Unfortunately Robert died at the young age of 61 from a cardiac aneurysm in his home on Merrion Square.
Handwritten lecture notes used by Robert when he was teaching in the Carmichael School of Medicine are on display in the RCSI for Heritage Week along with a number of other intriguing history of medicine items.
Robert McDonnell was a medical man who through his investigations helped to push forward the boundaries of medicine. This drive is plainly evident in his courage to attempt the first blood transfusion in Ireland nearly 150 years ago.
For more on this see also
http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/was-dracula-an-irishman-2/
http://www.ingeniousirelandonline.ie/en/stories/st0002.xml?page=3
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy