Richard Carmichael (physician)

Richard Carmichael MRCSI MRIA (February 1779 - 8 June 1849) was an eminent Irish surgeon, medical writer and philanthropist.

Life

He was born in Bishop Street, Dublin, son of Hugh Carmichael, a solicitor, and Sarah Rogers from County Meath. He studied medicine at the nearby College of Surgeons.

In 1816 he was appointed to the Richmond Hospital, Dublin, where he taught with Robert Adams, John Cheyne and Ephraim MacDowel. In 1826 they founded, at their own expense, the "School of Anatomy, Medicine and Surgery of the Richmond Hospital". This was renamed the Carmichael School of Medicine after his death, and to which he bequeathed £10,000.

He founded the Irish Medical Association in 1840 and was president of it until his death. He was elected President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 1813, 1826 and 1845. His bequest to RCSI instituted the Carmichael Prize Essay.

He drowned while riding his horse across the sands to his summer residence in Sutton, near Dublin, and was buried in St. George's Churchyard, Whitworth Road.

The foundation stone for the new school of medicine named the Carmichael School of Medicine was laid on 29 March 1864 in North Brunswick St. The building was next to the North Dublin Union and cost £6,000. Architect was J. E. Rogers of Dublin.

References and sources

Notes

Sources

• Fleetwood, John F (1983). The History of Medicine in Ireland. Dublin: Skellig Press.
• Cameron, Charles Alexander (1886). History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and of the Irish schools of medicine : including a medical bibliography and a medical biography. Dublin: Fannin.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)