Dublin Welcomes the European Congress of Endocrinology

The Irish Endocrine Society is delighted to have been selected to host the ECE in Dublin next month.  The task of living up to some of the fantastic venues, which have hosted excellent conferences for the ESE, is daunting, but the Local Organising Committee are confident that attendees will be stimulated by the exciting programme while relaxing in the easy-going ambience of one of Europe’s iconic cities.

Liffey Bridge, Dublin

Ireland has a long tradition of the practice and teaching of medicine.  Medicine was one of the many branches of learning practiced by the religious caste known as the Druids, in pre-Christian times.  In 487 BC King Nuad reputedly lost his hand, in combat with the Fir Bolg, at the First Battle of Moytura.  He had a silver hand fashioned to replace it; unfortunately, as the traditional medium of learning in Celtic societies was oral, rather than written, this early example of transplant surgery was not published in the medical journals of the time!  With the advent of Christianity, the Gaelic lords employed physicians in their entourages; the highest position, the ollamh leighis, or official physician, often included the benefit of hereditary land.  This tradition has, alas, not survived to the current day, though the dynastic nature of medicine, started in these pre- Norman times, still survives in many Irish medical families today.

The oldest medical school in Ireland was possibly established in Tuaim Brecain in Cavan, in pre- Norman times, and schools such as those in Cashel, Portumna and Armagh were famed throughout Europe.  There are currently seven medical schools in Ireland; Trinity College, Dublin (1711) is the oldest, followed by The Royal College of surgeons, Dublin (1784) and Queen’s University, Belfast (1821). Subsequent schools in Galway (1845), Cork (1849) and University College Dublin (1854) continued the educational tradition in Ireland, and very recently, a seventh medical school was opened in Limerick (2007).  During this time Ireland has contributed significantly to the practice of clinical medicine and many well known clinical signs, such as Corrigan’s pulse (Dominic Corrigan 1802-1880), Cheyne-Stokes respiration (John Cheyne, 1776 – 1836, William Stokes 1804-1877) Stokes-Adams attacks (Stokes and Robert Adams 1791-1875) and Colles fractures (Abraham Colles 1773-1843) derived their eponymous names from the Irish physicians who described them.  The Fogarty embolectomy catheter was invented by an Irish American surgeon, Thomas Stokes, and the Irish diaspora has produced modern endocrinologists like John Monson (London) and Beverly Biller (Boston, USA) and this year’s European Hormone Medal Lecturer, Stephen O’Rahilly.

The Irish contribution to endocrinology is best exemplified by the classical description by Robert Graves (1796-1875) of what we now know to be autoimmune thyrotoxicosis, in three Irish women.  Much of the world recognises this as Graves’ Disease today.  What is less well known is Graves’ uncredited invention of the second hand on the watch, which he used in conjunction with early stethoscopes to measure heart rate.  In more modern times, endocrinologists such as TJ McKenna and Ivo Drury (Dublin), Denis O Sullivan (Cork) and David Hadden (Belfast) promoted learning in endocrinology, inspiring the current generation of Irish endocrinologists, who have developed a vibrant culture of research and teaching in endocrinology. 

Visitors to Dublin for the ECE will note many historical medical buildings in the city centre, including the Rotunda Maternity Hospital, the beautiful Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, on Kildare Street, and the Royal College of Surgeons, on Stephen’s Green, which was commandeered as a military stronghold during the Easter Rising in 1916.  Delegates will also have the opportunity to visit many historical sites.  The tranquil confines of Trinity College, has a famous library, open to the public, which houses the ancient Book of Kells, an illuminated Latin Gospel translation, dating to approximately 800 AD.  Ireland is often described as the island of Saints and Scholars, and the island certainly punches above its literary weight.  The streets of Dublin resonate to the ghostly footsteps of giants of literature: Yeats, Shaw, Beckett and Heaney (who was from Derry, but lived in Dublin) all won the Nobel Prize for literature.  In addition Joyce, Wilde, O’Casey, Behan, Kavanagh and Flann O’Brien lived, wrote, fought and drank here.  Delegates should not be surprised to sit down in a coffee shop, to discover Bono, Roy Keane, Brendan Gleeson, Sinead O’Connor, Rory McIlroy or Colin Farrell sipping a cappuccino at the next table; Dublin is a capital city, but the city centre is small, and celebrity is worn quietly and easily here.

Trinity College Dublin, The Old Library

One of Ireland’s most famous exports is, of course, the legendary elixir that is Guinness.  Take a few minutes to savour a pint in one of the cities lively hostelries.  Iconic bars such as The Palace in Temple Bar, Mulligan’s in Poolbeg Street and Keogh’s in St Annes St are good surviving examples of old traditional pubs. Be prepared to be engaged in conversation by strangers!  Brendan Behan famously said “they took away our land, our language and our religion; but they could never harness our tongues”.  Conversation is loud, lively and friendly, and you will often be invited to join in!  But be careful; the old phrase “we’ll just go in for a couple” is inevitably the prelude to a very late evening.......