The north of Ireland has always produced a large number of doctors, not only for Ireland generally, but for the armed forces and for the wider world. This extensive two volume work of reference is a directory of all those Ulster doctors who qualified before 1901. There are nearly six thousand names with biographical notes on all, including details of parentage and dates of birth, marriage and death, and medical education and career.
This directory is therefore of special value to anyone studying medical or local history and also for many genealogists tracing Ulster families. The information is derived from a wide variety of sources, published and unpublished, set in the context of the development of the medical profession over several centuries.
The author, Richard Clarke, is emeritus professor of anaesthetics at Queen's University, Belfast. On retirement he assumed the position of honorary archivist of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast and was able to use his experience in writing A History of the Royal Victoria Hospital, which also facilitated further research on doctors throughout the province of Ulster. This in addition to forty years of work on gravestones in Down, Antrim and Belfast, published by the Ulster Historical Foundation, and a lifetime of work on family history.
In its final stages the directory has received generous support from the Ulster Medical Society and an enthusiastic introduction from Sir Peter Froggatt, former Vice-Chancellor, Queen’s University Belfast.