| Arrangement | The collection has been divided into eight series. The first series comprises material related to Neil John Blayney’s career as a physician, with specific focus on professional applications, appointments and achievements. It also includes material linked to his education and training, including items related to registration and fees for same. The second series pertains to Neil John Blayney’s finances and personal effects. The third series contains, correspondence, circulars and reports relevant to his service in World War I. The fourth series contains medical and patient records.
The fifth series contains copies of other documents relating to Dr Blayney, collated by his grandson Dr Neil J Brennan while writing a biography of Dr Blayney. The sixth series contains objects and the seventh series is audio visual material. The Final series is one item, a mounted portrait of Blayney. |
| History | Neil John Blayney was born on 28 April 1874 in Cushendall, Co. Antrim, one of seven children to Alexander and Anne Jane Blayney. He attended St. Malachy’s College in Belfast. From there, Blayney went on to study at the Royal University of Ireland and subsequently at the Catholic University Medical School on Cecilia Street (which would later become the Medical Faculty of University College Dublin). On graduating in 1897, Blayney undertook an apprenticeship as House Surgeon at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin for one year and subsequently returned to Belfast where he joined the Mater Infirmorum Hospital. He came from a maritime trading family and although none of the Blayney children pursued this career, shortly after his return to Belfast Neil John Blayney accepted a brief role as a ship’s Surgeon with the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. He returned to Ireland in 1899 and in early 1900, he took up what would be his substantive position for the rest of his life - Surgeon to the Queen’s County Infirmary, Maryborough (now Portlaoise, Co. Laois). During his tenure in the Queen’s County Infirmary, Blayney oversaw many improvements to the healthcare provision in the area and actively pursued funding for these endeavours – most notably, for the construction of a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1911, which burned down accidentally in November 1912. During the First World War years in Ireland, he served as a Medical Officer to the troops at Maryborough, concurrent with his role in Queen’s County Infirmary. Neil John Blayney married Eily Meehan, daughter of Patrick A. Meehan M.P, in 1916, with whom he had two children. He died from a suspected stroke in Maryborough in late February 1919, and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. |
| Custodial History | The collection was donated by Dr Neil J Brennan, grandson of Neil John Blayney, following the publication of his book on his grandfather's life. |