The Most Famous
PHYSICIANS from Ireland
This page contains a list of the greatest Irish Physicians. The pantheon dataset contains 726 Physicians, 2 of which were born in Ireland. This makes Ireland the birth place of the 38th most number of Physicians behind Israel, and Estonia.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Irish Physicians of all time. This list of famous Irish Physicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. James Barry (1795 - 1865)
With an HPI of 56.87, James Barry is the most famous Irish Physician. Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.
James Barry (born Margaret Anne Bulkley, or Bulkeley; c. 1789 – 25 July 1865) was a military surgeon in the British Army. Originally from the city of Cork in Ireland, Barry obtained a medical degree from the University of Edinburgh Medical School, then served first in Cape Town, South Africa, and subsequently in many parts of the British Empire. Before retirement, Barry had risen to the rank of Inspector General (equivalent to Brigadier) in charge of military hospitals, the second-highest medical office in the British Army. Barry not only improved conditions for wounded soldiers, but also the conditions of the native inhabitants, and performed the first recorded caesarean section by a European in Africa in which both the mother and child survived the operation. Although Barry's entire adult life was lived as a man, Barry was named Margaret Anne at birth and was known as female in childhood. Barry lived as a man in both public and private life, at least in part in order to be accepted as a university student, and to pursue a career as a surgeon. Barry's anatomy became known to the public and to military colleagues only after a post-mortem examination.
2. Joshua Pim (1869 - 1942)
With an HPI of 49.35, Joshua Pim is the 2nd most famous Irish Physician. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Dr Joshua Pim FRCSI (20 May 1869 – 15 April 1942) was a medical doctor and Irish amateur tennis player. He won the Wimbledon men's singles title two years in a row, in 1893 and 1894, and was ranked British number one in both those years. He won the Wimbledon men's doubles in 1890 and 1893.
3. Sir George Staunton, 1st Baronet (1737 - 1801)
With an HPI of 44.86, Sir George Staunton, 1st Baronet is the 3rd most famous Irish Physician. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Sir George Leonard Staunton, 1st Baronet (10 April 1737 – 14 January 1801) was an Anglo-Irish physician, judge and diplomat best known for his participation in the Macartney Embassy.
4. William Stokes (1804 - 1878)
With an HPI of 44.12, William Stokes is the 4th most famous Irish Physician. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
William Stokes (1 October 1804 – 10 January 1878) was an Irish physician, who was Regius Professor of Physic at Trinity College Dublin. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School with an MD in 1825 later returning the practice in Dublin at Meath Hospital. He went on to create two important works on cardiac and pulmonary diseases – A Treatise on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases of the Chest (1837) and The Diseases of the Heart and Aorta (1854) – as well as one of the first treatises on the use of the stethoscope. He emphasised the importance of clinical examination in forming diagnoses, and of ward-based learning for students of medicine. Both Cheyne–Stokes breathing (the alternation of apnoea with tachypnoea) and Stokes–Adams syndrome are named after him. Stokes' sign is a severe throbbing in the abdomen, at the right of the umbilicus, in acute enteritis. Stokes law is that a muscle situated above an inflamed membrane is often affected with paralysis. In 1858 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In June 1861 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society as: "The Author of A work on the Diseases of the Lungs, and of a work on the Diseases of the Heart and Aorta – and of other contributions to Pathological Science. Eminent as a Physician". He was elected President of the Royal Irish Academy for 1874–76. His son Sir William Stokes published a biography of William Stokes in 1898. Another son, Whitley Stokes, was a notable lawyer and Celtic scholar, his daughter Margaret Stokes an archaeologist and writer and his father Whitley (senior) also a noted physician.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Irish physicians born between 1737 and 1869. Of these 4, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Irish physicians include James Barry, Joshua Pim, and Sir George Staunton, 1st Baronet. As of April 2024, 2 new Irish physicians have been added to Pantheon including Sir George Staunton, 1st Baronet, and William Stokes.
Deceased Irish Physicians
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James Barry
1795 - 1865
HPI: 56.87
Joshua Pim
1869 - 1942
HPI: 49.35
Sir George Staunton, 1st Baronet
1737 - 1801
HPI: 44.86
William Stokes
1804 - 1878
HPI: 44.12
Newly Added Irish Physicians (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Physicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Physicians since 1700.
