| Description | Hard bound printed and manuscript post-mortem register recording the autopsies performed in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital. The register covers the period of the War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Civil War (1922-1923) and there are numerous high-profile cases listed, including the autopsies of Thomas Ashe (p104, autopsy number 17, September 1917), and Sean Cole and Alf Colley (p182-183, August 1922), as well as numerous Dublin Metropolitan policemen, Royal Irish Constabulary men, and Free State/National Army soldiers, particularly during the years 1920-1923. The register is not in alphabetical order or indexed; entries are in chronological order by date of autopsy.
There is one page per autopsy which is listed under the following headings: Year; Autopsy Number; Name; Age; Sex; Occupation; Ward; Medical Attendant; Date of Death; [Date] of Autopsy; Hours P.M. [Post Mortem]; Clinical Diagnosis; and Post Mortem Findings. Entries are signed by various different staff members including Edmund McWeeney, Mater Pathologist; L P Mulligan; a Dr Kenefick; Charles MacAuley; Michael O’Donnell; Dr [Edward] Freeman; and Dennis Healy, amongst others. In certain autopsies in the 1923-1924 sessions, there are lists of individual student’s signatures who attended the autopsies (see 6 October 1923; 26 November 1923; 11 December 1923; 5 January 1924).
Enclosures include: detailed manuscript notes for the autopsy of Thomas Ashe dated 27 September 1917, unsigned but probably by Edmund McWeeney, Pathologist, Mater Hospital, consisting of 12 small lined notebook pages hand numbered up to page 10 – see page 104 (autopsy number 17, September 1917) in register for Ashe report and post mortem findings (12p); unsigned and undated manuscript autopsy notes for a John Knox from [?Ballina] in St. Camillus ward consisting of 3 pages small lined notepaper – see p. 11 in register (Autopsy Number 9, 1913) for entry (3p); manuscript autopsy notes for a James Connolly dated 15 May 1917 consisting of 2 manuscript lined pages signed with the initials ’ES’ – see p.98 (Autopsy number 11, May 1917) in register (2p); an unsigned and undated manuscript page of autopsy notes for an unnamed individual found on p14 (April 1913) of register [does not appear to be related to entry on p14] (1p); a manuscript autopsy report in pencil for a Dan Kilgallen signed by a [?Dr M D] on a single reused diary page, dated Monday 25 October 1917 – see p.105 in register (Autopsy number 18, 25 October 1917) for entry (2p); and 2 sets of manuscript autopsy reports for Detective Sergeant Patrick Smyth [or Smith] apparently by 2 different individuals, one unsigned double-sided entry on blue notepaper dated 9 Sept 1919 at 5pm, whilst the other report consists of 3 numbered manuscript pages, one single page of manuscript notes and a double-sided sheet on lined diary pages dated 2-4 June 1915, also unsigned (4p) – see p. 127 (Autopsy number 7, September 1919) in register for entry.
Physical Condition: The book has been rebound and certain pages have been repaired, although numerous pages are still in bad condition. Some of the pages are not in numerical order, and it appears that more than 1 register was bound together to create the book. Page 25 of the 1913 register is missing; page 71 is missing; and p. 73 and 141 are inserted further into the book although they are in chronological order by date of autopsy.
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