Calls to name new children’s hospital after Kathleen Lynn

Calls have been made to name the new children's hospital after Dr Kathleen Lynn, who has extensive connections with Ardbraccan.

Dr Lynn was Chief Medical Officer in the Irish Citizens Army and was founder of St Ultan's Hospital, a very important paediatric centre in Dublin until 1984. The hospital was called after St Ultan of Ardbraccan, the patron saint of paediatricians and every year Dr Lynn would bring huge crowds to Ardbraccan to celebrate St Ultan's Day as a fund raiser for the hospital.

The campaign to have the new hospital called after Dr Lynn received a major boost recently when the Seanad called on the Minister for Health to honour Dr Lynn in this way following a proposal by Independent Senator Sharon Keogan.

St Ultan of Ardbraccan, also known as Ultan the Scribe, founded Ardbraccan Abbey and school, educating and feeding poor students. He looked after the children of Meath during an outbreak of yellow plague. His feast day is celebrated on 4th September.

St Ultan’s Hospital was established in 1919 by Dr Kathleen Lynn and her partner, Madeleine ffrench-Mullen. They were deeply concerned at the high level of infant mortality in Dublin, and the rise of infant syphilis in the wake of the First World War. The hospital opened at 37 Charlemont Street on Ascension Thursday, 29th May 1919.

Kathleen Lynn held fundraisers for the hospital each year in Ardbraccan on St Ultan's Day.

"She revived the St Ultan's Day celebrations at Ardbraccan in 1921 and she used to bring a trainload from Dublin," says local historian, Stephen Ball. "She continued to come every year, up to the 1950s."

St Ultan's Hospital closed in 1984 and merged with the National Children's Hospital.

Kathleen Lynn was born on 28th January 1874 near Killala in County Mayo to a Church of Ireland clergyman. Growing up in the aftermath of the famine, she was deeply saddened by the deadly diseases and poverty suffered by the people in her local area. This led to her desire at sixteen, when she left school, to become a doctor.

She qualified from the Royal University of Ireland in 1899 and conducted her internships at Holles Street Hospital, the Rotunda Hospital, the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital and at the Richmond Lunatic Asylum. In 1898 she was appointed the first woman resident doctor at Dublin's Adelaide Hospital, but staff opposition to her appointment meant she did not take up the post. She completed postgraduate work in the United States in the early 1900s before working as a duty doctor at hospitals in the city of Dublin as part of her wider general practice based at her home at 9, Belgrave Road, Rathmines. She became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1909, and was promoted to clinical assistant in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in the same year.

Dr Lynn was a member of the executive committee of the Irish Women's Suffragette and Local Government Association (IWSLGA) from 1903, and was also said to be on friendly terms with the suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst.

She supported the workers during the 1913 lock-out and worked with Constance Markievicz and others in the soup kitchens in Liberty Hall, becoming close to Markievicz and James Connolly. She joined the Irish Citizen Army and was chief medical officer during the 1916 Easter Rising. She described herself as "a Red Cross doctor and a belligerent" when she was arrested and imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol.

She remained active in the Nationalist movement and was elected vice-president of the Sinn Féin executive in 1917 and in 1923, Lynn was elected to Dáil Éireann as an anti-Treaty Sinn Féin TD. She eventually left politics in 1927, increasingly frustrated by Sinn Féin's refusal to embrace social reform and health care.

Dr Lynn lived in Rathmines from 1903 to her death in 1955, sharing her home with her life partner, Madeleine ffrench-Mullen. Speaking in the Seanad Chamber recently, Senator Keogan said: “Seanad Éireann calls on the Minister for Health to name the new National Children’s Hospital after Dr Kathleen Lynn, noting her contribution as Chief Medical Officer in the Irish Citizens Army, and her role in establishing St Ultan’s Hospital, one of the most important centres for paediatric healthcare in the Irish State.

“I believe it would be a fitting tribute as we look back over the decade of centenaries and look ahead to a new era in Children’s Healthcare in Ireland.

“The newly installed artwork by artist Mary Kelly featuring Dr Lynn was unveiled in Leinster House and it seems, therefore that the political support is now building for the initiative so I ask that Seanad Éireann will pass this motion to name our National Children’s Hospital after Dr Kathleen Lynn.”