Portrait of groundbreaking Limerick surgeon returns home after 200 years

AN EIGHTEENTH-century oil painted portrait of a groundbreaking Limerick surgeon which hasn’t touched Irish soil in decades was unveiled at a local perioperative symposium.

The Sylvester O’Halloran portrait which dates back to the 1700s was unveiled at the symposium in Limerick, named after the famous surgeon.

The portrait travelled thousands of miles to be unveiled - the oil painting hadn’t touched Irish soil in around 200 years.

According to John Calvin Coffey, head of the Department of Surgery in Limerick the portrait travelled from Limerick to New Zealand to Australia, Singapore, Bahrain, the UK and home to Shannon before being unveiled at the symposium.

A 200-year-old portrait of Limerick surgeon Sylvester O'Halloran was recently unveiled at the Sylvester O’Halloran Perioperative Symposium in Limerick. The portrait had travelled several thousand miles before returning to Limerick for this year's event. #SOH2023
1/4 pic.twitter.com/2tqpDeKVg6

— UL Hospitals (@ULHospitals) March 15, 2023

Sylvester O'Halloran was a renowned surgeon/historian born in Limerick early in the eighteenth century.

His choice of career was influenced by a significant lack of surgical services in Limerick and in Ireland at that time.

Having completed a course of study in London and Paris, he returned to his native city in 1749 well equipped to begin his surgical career.

He and others founded the Limerick County Infirmary in the city in 1761.

The foundation stone is now preserved in the Sylvester O'Halloran Post Graduate Centre at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

Despite his many outstanding achievements in surgery and literature, Sylvester O'Halloran's most enduring legacy is the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

He had been very impressed while in France with the Académie Royale de Chirurgie, which had been founded in Paris in 1731 during the reign of Louis XV.

Sylvester O'Halloran's Proposals for the Advancement of Surgery in Ireland (1765) and his driving enthusiasm were responsible for the establishment of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1784; he was awarded an honorary membership of the RCSI in 1786.

His passionate commitment to education, research and surgical skills marked him out from his contemporaries.

He was considered a dedicated doctor to his numerous patients whom he looked after with great compassion.

The annual Sylvester O'Halloran Perioperative Symposium was started in 1992 by the late Limerick surgeon, Mr Peter Delaney and Professor Eamonn McQuaid of UL.

It has been subsequently run by Limerick surgeons Prof Pierce Grace, Prof Shona Tormey and, since 2015, by John Calvin Coffey.

From its beginnings in 1992, the annual Sylvester O’Halloran Perioperative Symposium has developed into one of the most anticipated meetings of its kind in Ireland and, increasingly, internationally.

The symposium has been previously posted on some of the leading surgical websites around the world, including the American College of Surgeons.

Approximately 500 attendees, including nursing, anaesthesia, surgeons, surgical trainees and numerous other healthcare professionals from all over Ireland and abroad, attended the event which runs over three days.

New life-saving advances in technology benefitting cancer patients at University Hospital Limerick,

The Sylvester O’Halloran Perioperative Symposium 2023 is collaboratively hosted by the departments of surgery, anaesthesia, nursing, urology, gynaecology and orthopaedics, in conjunction with the Perioperative Directorate at UL Hospitals Group and the School of Medicine, University of Limerick.

Sessions took place on anaesthesia and critical care as well as specialties including breast, colorectal, orthopaedics and head and neck.

Masterclasses took place on nursing and vascular surgery as well as lectures on robotic surgery.