Memories of my Father

by Michele McVerry

Based on an interview carried out by Dr Ken Abraham with Dr Michele McVerry in December 2019.

My father Dr Michael McVerry, was a local GP and practised from his home at 7 John Mitchel Place in Newry. He was born 5th May 1917, the son of Bernard and Rosina McVerry (nee McKnight), who had a grocery business in Hill Street in the town. My grandparents had seven children, Maureen, John, Bridie, Michael, Theresa, Eileen and Kaye. My father would always say that my grandmother, who died before I was born, was forward thinking, and was very keen on educating her children, including her daughters which was unusual in those days. Maureen attended Queen’s University Belfast, became a teacher and taught at St Dominic’s School, Belfast. Bridie obtained a MSc. in chemistry in University College Dublin (UCD) and worked in the Faculty of Science at UCD. Theresa qualified as a doctor and practised as a psychiatrist. Eileen and Kaye became radiographers. John McVerry also became a doctor and practised as a GP in Newry, initially from his home at Bank Parade.

My father, Michael McVerry attended the Christian Brothers Primary School in Newry, then attended Clongowes Wood College in county Kildare, as his brother John had done before him. He did his leaving certification at the age of seventeen and gained entry to the medical school at UCD. He always excelled academically. He left school in June 1934, and during that summer his sister, Bridie McVerry who was already in the science faculty gave him a ‘grind’ in sciences and he then passed the first-year exam at UCD (known as the pre-med year) a few months later in September, which was quite a feat. He qualified as a doctor in June 1939, one month after his twenty-second birthday.

I am not sure how long he remained in Dublin. There would have been a requirement to stay a year at least. He then went to Cornwall where he worked as a doctor for over five years. It was during the Second World War of course and I remember the stories about how he gained a lot of experience in England and become quite skilled in Obstetrics. He also did anaesthetics. He did his first appendectomy operation in Plymouth in a hospital as it was being bombed and they continued with the operation as the bombs fell. At some stage he went into general practice, in St Austell in

Cornwall, in an older doctor’s practice. While he was in Cornwall, he was a captain in the Home Guard, it being war time.

My father returned to Ireland in 1947 and bought Dr Grant’s practice at 7 John Mitchel Place in Newry, as doctors did before the National Health Service was introduced in 1948. He also bought the house and the furniture and set up his practice in the house and lived there.

In 1948, he met my mother Maureen Macken from Dalkey, Dublin, who had been at school with his sisters Theresa and Eileen at Sion Hill, Blackrock, Dublin. My parents were married in February 1949 and had three children, Ian born in 1950, I was born in 1954 and Raymond arrived in 1956. We lived above my father’s practice. Like our father, we all chose medicine as our careers. His practice naturally included areas around his surgery, High Street, North Street, Courtney Hill, The Commons, William Street, Drumalane, later the Meadow. Dr Grant, was originally from Mayobridge and my father inherited many of his patients in that area and in the greater Newry area. Next door to the surgery was Connolly’s grocer’s shop and two doors down, Liam O’Hare’s chemist shop; both were integral parts of our lives.

As a child I can remember the doorbell was always ringing. Transport was limited then. It wasn’t the norm to have a car, or even a phone, so many came on foot and rang the doorbell with their request. During surgery hours, we as children were told to be very quiet. We learned not to touch the telephone in case it was a medical call. My father seemed to work all day, and at night, he rarely appeared to be off duty. Designated surgery hours started at 9.30 am in the morning, again at 2 pm in the afternoon and there was an evening surgery starting 6 pm. There wasn’t an appointment system, it was a walk-in surgery, and there were house calls in between and maybe a home obstetric delivery to attend during the day, or night. My father also did anaesthetics for the local dentist, usually at 9 am, before morning surgery.

I can still remember my father’s surgery. We, as young children weren’t allowed into it except when we were invited in by my father. It was kept locked. It had a large roll desk with a key to it, with drawers on either side. There was a book case. He had an examination couch and a purple covered timber screen which was moveable. There was a small oak cabinet in which he kept his instruments. He had a filing system which I clearly remember. It was wooden, and it wasn’t very elaborate, with alphabetical A-Z pull out drawers. Obviously, there was a wash-hand basin.He had a lovely antique chair which swivelled. When children attended with their parents, sometimes my father would put the child in the chair and give it a swivel to amuse. He had an electric bell that connected from the surgery to the waiting room and he’d press that, and the next patient would come in. The waiting room was quite big and nicely furnished with Dr Grant’s old antique furniture. Its window faced out to the main street. My father’s professional brass name plate was outside at the front door, and early on, my mother placed decorative geranium flower boxes on all the window sills. There wasn’t a receptionist, my mother would have opened the door and answered the phone. She often made cups of tea for waiting patients. She had a major role in those days. You had to be available, there weren’t rotas like nowadays. Holidays were infrequent and on occasion curtailed. I remember when the locum’s wife died, and my father returned a few days into our holiday, we continued. Another rare weekend was cancelled just before, due to an impending home confinement he was to attend. There wasn’t a practice nurse. My father did all the dressings, ear syringing, and poultices which were common in those early days. Not many poultices now!

We, as a family, moved to live at Rostrevor in 1960. Their practice continued as before. Around 1966, my father sold the house in John Mitchel Place and moved his practice to rented premises in Corry Square, Newry, which he shared with other doctors but never joined in practice, they worked separately. One was Dr Seamus McAteer, another Dr Neil O’Reilly and there were others. Their surgery was opposite the RUC station.

The Troubles started in 1969 and had a major impact on life in Newry. His surgery was in a bad position, being opposite the police station which was ‘blown up’ a few times, and on occasion the surgery suffered from the blast also, but this danger didn’t stop patients attending. Anyhow, in 1971 he joined the Alliance Party NI, as one of its early members and stood for election in 1973, in Newry South Ward. He topped the poll in his ward and became a [Alliance Party] councillor on Newry and Mourne District Council, continuing on for eight years, having been re-elected in 1977. He was Chairman of Newry and Mourne District Council from 1978 to 1979.

In his earlier medical career in Newry, he was involved in medical politics; he was on the Local Medical Committee and was a local representative at national BMA events. In 1973 he was on the South Down Hospital Management Committee. My father was also a Forensic Medical Officer, which often involved appearing as a medical expert witness in court. His work involved being a forensic medical examiner and often appearing as a medical expert witness. During the Troubles his duties involved a lot of night work. The police may have gone to the surgery during the day but would also come to our home in Rostrevor at night, to serve a summons. They would come down the drive in a police car, there would have been soldiers lying under our rhododendron bushes with rifles poised, on the road there might have been an armoured vehicle and a helicopter hovering overhead. We, as his children, were both intrigued and apprehensive as we viewed this from our windows. The police rarely arrived without military support in those times.

Around 1973, my father was one of the GPs who favoured and encouraged the move to John Mitchel Place to what we now refer to as the ‘Old Health Centre’, opposite our former premises in 7 John Mitchel Place. The doctors had their individual surgery room and annex, but now had the facility of a treatment room and an in-house nurse to do dressings, take blood and assist the doctors etc. They had a communal reception and waiting area, and their own receptionists. That was a great help and there was camaraderie there; you could have a cup of coffee if you had time with your colleagues. The social workers were on the other side of the building and midwives, nurses and others would come in and interact with the doctors. That was a great move and my father continued there until he retired. He practiced as a single handed general practitioner from 1947 until I joined him in general practice, as his first partner in 1982. My father retired from being a principal in general practice in October 1989, at the age of 72. However, he continued to work as a locum for a few years. In 1990, I amalgamated my practice with that of my brothers, Dr Ian McVerry and Dr Raymond McVerry and their partner Dr Mark McEvoy. My father died on 25th September 2013. His granddaughter, Dr Fiona McVerry, is now qualified in medicine, the next generation.