Maurice Neligan
| Maurice Neligan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1937 Booterstown |
| Died | 8 October 2010 |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
Maurice Neligan (1937 – 8 October 2010) was an Irish heart surgeon, activist, newspaper columnist and media commentator. He was considered one of Ireland's most recognisable doctors – "Ireland's answer to Dr Christian Barnard [sic]" – and performed a number of firsts in Irish medicine. It is thought that he performed 14,000 – 15,000 heart operations during his career. After his death in 2010, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny described him as "the first superstar of Irish medicine".
In 1974, Neligan performed Ireland's first open-heart surgery for congenital heart defects. In 1975, he performed Ireland's first coronary artery by-pass graft. In 1985, he carried out the first heart transplant in the country's history, and was given no assistance by the Department of Health in doing so. Neligan also co-founded the Blackrock Clinic. From 1971 until 2002, he was consultant cardiac surgeon at the Mater Hospital and, from 1974 until 2002, he served at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin.
Neligan was originally from Booterstown, County Dublin. He attended Blackrock College. He studied medicine at University College Dublin (UCD), from where he graduated successfully in 1962. He married Pat, a fellow doctor. They met in the accident and emergency unit of St Vincent's Hospital when Pat crashed her father's car on her graduation day – "I hobbled off on my crutch, and he came after me and said, would you like to go out?", Pat later told Miriam O'Callaghan. The couple went on to have seven children. Three were sons and four were daughters. Daughter Sara was murdered in 2007. 12,000 letters were sent to the family by members of the public.
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