A life that spanned eras

Dr Malachy Powell, KM, MD, FRCPI, DPH, BSc, LAH (1913-2007) is remembered for his contribution to medicine over an era that ran from pre-antibiotics to the MRI scanner.
Dr Malachy Powell, who died in June 2007, was a well-known figure in Irish medical circles. During his lifetime, he witnessed his profession pass from the pre-antibiotic era to the MRI scanner and his country change from a colonial state to a respected nation within Europe.

Malachy enjoyed his school days at Belvedere College, which he entered in 1925. Among the highlights he referred to was a school trip to Rome, where the boys were given an audience with Pope Pius XI.
Having seen the ‘White Pope’, the boys were taken to see the ‘Black Pope’ (as the Father General of the Jesuits was known). Even though only 16 at the time, he remarked how the Belvedere Jesuits, who had remained standing for part of the Papal audience, all remained kneeling throughout the session with their Father General! It was at Belvedere that he got his first taste of opera, playing King Hildebrand in Princess Ida. A remarkable photograph of him exists in full theatrical regalia, including helmet and spear, taken in the schoolyard in 1932.
He studied medicine at University College Dublin and continued his interest in opera at the Musical Society when he produced The Pirates of Penzance and Patience in the ‘Aula Maxima’ of Newman House.
He had happy recollections of his student days, but often emphasised how ‘hard-up’ the students of the time were. Amongst the extracurricular activities he engaged in (to raise badly needed funds) was being a part-time news broadcaster on Irish radio.
He described the sound effects of the time as consisting of four gramophone records which catered for most situations – one of cheering crowds (which he used as a background to news of Nazi rallies in Nuremburg, as well as for local political meetings in Ireland), one of marching troops (used as background to the German Army entering Austria and the Blueshirts marching in Dublin), another of seagulls crying, water lapping and a ship’s horn, and the fourth was the sound of a train pulling out of a station.
Having qualified in 1938, he spent an intern year in the Mater Hospital in Dublin, an exceptional experience at that time and one which he valued greatly. He joined the Army Medical Corps during the ‘Emergency’ in 1940 and served as a Captain in the Curragh Camp, where he treated not only the sick of the Irish Army, but also German, British and IRA prisoners who were interned there. He was required to lecture to Irish Officer Cadets in the Military College on health matters and was amused that his talk on ‘Lice, Scabies and VD’ was received with particular attention by this audience. He retired from the army in 1947 with the rank of Commandant and Officer Commanding the 1st Field Ambulance to join the Department of Health, where he remained for the next 34 years.
During his time there, he interacted with several Ministers of Health, most of whom he admired. These included Dr James Ryan (‘constructive and experienced’), Tom O’Higgins (‘courteous and considerate’), Sean McEntee (‘a fine minister’), Sean Flanagan (‘very popular and efficient’) and Erskine Childers (‘careful and conscientious’).
The aspects of his work in the Department of which he was most proud included the initiation of a National Training Scheme for the Ambulance Service, the development of the first Dublin Major Accident Plan, the chairing of a European Committee on Radioactive Waste Management Practices in Western Europe, and his involvement as Chairman of the post-graduate training scheme for radiologists (for which he was later awarded an Honorary Fellowship and the Faculty of Radiologists’ highest award, the Desmond Riordan Gold Medal).
Outside of his work, he found time to be a longstanding Secretary and then President of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, Registrar and subsequently Governor of the Apothecaries Hall in Ireland, and Director of the Ambulance Corps of the Order of Malta — and then Chancellor of that organisation.
His role in the Order of Malta led to his co-ordination of the medical support services for the Pope’s visit to Dublin in 1979, a major logistical exercise for the estimated one million people who congregated in the Phoenix Park for the Papal Mass. He later received the Papal award of Knight of St Gregory for these and other services. As well as these multiple activities, he maintained his interest in writing and the media. He was one of the first medical correspondents for The Irish Times, writing under the pseudonyms of ‘Aescelepius’ and ‘Senex’.
He was a regular contributor to Irish Medical Times for many years, mostly on matters relating to medical history and latterly producing a series on the heraldic symbols in the health service. He also recorded several episodes of Sunday Miscellany, which were broadcast on RTE radio.
Although not a great admirer of the works of James Joyce, as a Dubliner he was proud that his grandfathers on both sides, William Gallagher (his maternal grandfather) and Major Malachi Powell (on the paternal side) achieved a certain kind of immortality by each appearing separately in Joyce’s Ulysses. He would have been wryly amused had he known that 16 June was to be the day that he would depart this world.
He is sadly missed by his wife Maura and children Betty, David, Brendan, Frank and Sheila.
Requiescat in pace