Interview with Caoimhghin Breathnach
Transcript of an interview conducted by Ida Milne with Professor Caoimhghin Breathnach, a retired physician.
In the interview Dr Breathnach talked about a wide range of topics, including:
- his medical education at University College Dublin and experience as a student in the Mater Misercordiae Hospital, Dublin;
- conditions in Dublin during the Second World War;
- experiences working in St Kevin's Hospital [later St James' Hospital], Cork Street Fever Hospital, and Rialto Hospital (all in Dublin);
- scarlet fever, whooping cough, pneumonia and poliomyelitis in Cork Street Fever Hospital;
- memories of Dr Christopher Joseph McSweeney, Medical Superintendent in Cork Street Fever Hospital;
- recollections of Dr Noel Browne, Minister for Health, 1948-1951;
- the introduction of antibiotics;
- time as a lecturer in University College Cork and University College Dublin;
- time spent on a post-doctoral fellowship in physiology in the USA;
- involvement in the History of Medicine section of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland;
- research in the field of history of medicine following retirement from University College Dublin;
- developments in radiology and biochemistry during his lifetime;
- immunisation programmes against diphtheria and poliomyelitis;
- use of barbiturates in treatment.
8 February 2013