The history of medicine in the United States is adorned with the
names of many physicians of Irish birth or blood. Several Irish
surgeons rendered valuable services in the army of the Revolution,
among whom are found Drs. McDonough, McHenry, McCloskey, McCalla,
Burke, Irvine, and Williamson. Dr. John Cochran was appointed by
Washington surgeon-general of the army. Dr. James Lynah of
Charleston, a native of Ireland, became surgeon-general of South
Carolina in recognition of his valuable services to the patriot army.
Dr. John McKinley, a native of Ireland, who was a famous physician in
his day, became the first governor of Delaware. Dr. Ephraim McDowell
is known in the profession as the "Father of Ovariotomy", as is Dr.
William J. McNevin the "Father of American Chemistry". Dr. John Byrne
of New York had a world-wide fame, and his papers on gynecology have
been pronounced by the medical press as "the best printed in any
language". One of the most conspicuous figures in medicine in the
United States was Dr. Jerome Cochran of Alabama. Drs. Junius F. Lynch
of Florida; Charles McCreery of Kentucky; Hugh McGuire and Hunter
McGuire of Virginia; Matthew C. McGannon of Tennessee; and James
Lynch, Charles J. O'Hagan, and James McBride of South Carolina are
mentioned prominently in the histories of their respective localities
as the foremost medical men of their times, while in Wisconsin the
pioneer physician was Dr. William H. Fox, and in Oregon, Dr. John
McLoughlin. Among New York physicians who achieved high reputations
in their profession were Drs. Thomas Addis Emmet, Frank A. McGuire,
Daniel E. O'Neill, Charles McBurney, Isaac H. Reiley, Alfred L.
Carroll, Howard A. Kelly, Joseph O'Dwyer, and James J. Walsh. These
and many others of Irish descent have been honored by medical
societies as leaders and specialists, while it can be said that no
surgeon of the present day has achieved such a world-wide reputation
as Dr. John B. Murphy of Chicago. Among experts in medico-legal
science, the names of Drs. Benjamin W. McCreedy and William J.
O'Sullivan of New York stand out prominently, and among the most
noted contributors to medical journals in the United States, and
recognized as men of great professional skill and authorities in
their respective specialties, have been Drs. F.D. Mooney of St.
Louis; Thomas Fitzgibbon of Milwaukee; John D. Hanrahan of Rutland;
James McCann and James H. McClelland of Pittsburgh; John A. Murphy
and John McCurdy of Cincinnati; John Keating of Philadelphia; John H.
Murphy of St. Paul; John W.C. O'Neal of Gettysburg; and Arthur
O'Neill of Meadville, Pa. Indeed, it can be said that American
medical science owes an incalculable debt to Irish genius.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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