General Practice in Warrenpoint by Donal O’Tierney

Based on an interview carried out by Dr Ken Abraham with Dr Donal O’Tierney in January 2020.

My father, Dr John O’Tierney (‘Sean’), came to Warrenpoint on 11th November 1918, at the end of the First World War, as doctor to the shipyard in Warrenpoint. He was born in Cookstown in county Tyrone, in 1892 and, about 1910, he moved to Dublin with his parents and his two older brothers.

When my father came to Warrenpoint he was paid £200 per year (a handsome sum then). He had qualified in the Mater Hospital in Dublin in 1916 and later spent six months in Wexford before applying for the shipyard job. Other doctors in Warrenpoint were Dr Bell, the dispensary doctor, who lived in Coolbawn on Queen Street, Dr Glenny and Dr Mayne.

Almost immediately came the Spanish flu and my father was kept busy. He set up practice in Avoca, in Great George’s Street. He had a bicycle, then a motor bike, and finally a motor car.

In 1925, Dr Bell died and my father applied for the dispensary job. He canvassed the Poor Law Guardians and at the meeting, one councillor proposed they stop the meeting as a mark of respect following the death of the father of another of the councillors. Then someone else proposed that first they should appoint the dispensary doctor in Warrenpoint, and this was seconded. A dispute arose as to which would be taken first, but the Chairman ruled that the first proposal was not seconded and my father was appointed. The Poor Law Guardians never met again. Subsequent appointments were made in Belfast.

My father then applied to take over Dr Bell’s surgery in 6 Queen Street. In 1930 my father married the daughter of Arthur Mallie who had emigrated from Newtownhamilton to America but returned with his family to Warrenpoint in 1920 after suffering a stroke.

My parents had five children. I was born in 1933 and went to Miss O’Hare’s Private School, St Peter’s National School, the Christian Brothers for one year and then to

Clongowes Wood College in county Kildare (1945-1951), going on to do medicine at University College Dublin (1951-1957).

In 1958, after a year at Baggot Street Hospital in Dublin, I returned to join my father in general practice in Warrenpoint.

My father worked from our house in 6 Queen Street, Warrenpoint, and did a short morning surgery, 9.30 am - 10.00 am and then went out on his calls and did the dispensary as well in Charlotte Street. This was a separate building where he looked after the poor, who could not afford to pay the doctor. He ate dinner at 2.00 pm and had two surgeries from 3.00 pm - 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm - 7.00 pm at the house and also on Saturday mornings. He was always very busy, as in addition to his dispensary job, he was Registrar for Deaths, Births and Catholic Marriages, and would take his papers for registration up to Mayobridge each Wednesday. He was also Public Health Officer for Warrenpoint Urban District Council and looked after TB patients in in the sanatorium outside Warrenpoint until it closed when the NHS was introduced. He was also doctor to Reed’s Factory and visited there every Tuesday morning.

There were two other doctors in Warrenpoint, each working from their own premises. Dr Redman in Seaview and Dr Purcell, doing locum for Dr Gilsenan. Dr Redman had taken over Dr Glenny’s practice in 1948, at the start of the National Health Service. Dr Gilsenan had originally come to Warrenpoint in 1941, to work with my father. He set up has own practice at the start of the NHS in 1948. He was now ill, and employed Dr Purcell, who, in 1959, on the death of Dr Gilsenan, inherited the practice.

Dr Purcell had intended to go to the USA when Dr Gilsenan died, but eventually went there in 1966. That year, under the New Contract, the doctors came together, joined by Dr McLaughlin from Rostrevor, in the Central Surgery in Great George’s Street. This meant that their houses were free from surgery.

In 1958, when I joined the practice (having known Dr Purcell at school), we arranged to cover one another on Saturday afternoons. This enabled us to play sports without being disturbed. I played rugby with Dundalk and Dr Purcell played golf. Soon afterwards the other GPs joined in and we arranged to have the weekends covered. We stopped the Saturday surgery in Warrenpoint but kept it going in Rostrevor (Dr McLaughlin had his half day on Thursday and felt the Saturday surgery to be necessary).

When my father retired officially in 1959, I had about 2,000 patients. I had the NHS practice and also the registration of Births, Deaths and Catholic Marriages for a few years. I married my wife, Winifred Lloyd from Bray in 1961 and I was able to appoint my wife as deputy to assist with registration as well as answering the phone. Also, I had the contract to look after Reed’s Factory. Gradually the surgery hours continued to expand till I was working from 8.30 am to 11.30 am in the morning and from 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm but often until 7.00 pm in the evening. As more people drove cars, patients could be brought to the practice and home visits were reduced from about sixteen a day to an average of six.

In 1966, when Dr Purcell had gone to the USA, we formed a partnership with all the doctors and were able to absorb Dr Purcell’s practice. This brought our numbers of patients to near the average in the UK. (Northern Ireland was ‘over-doctored’ and our average had been 1,750 compared to 2,500 in England.) Our rota was now three doctors.

New contracts in 1966 revolutionised general practice. Doctors were paid £1,500 each year if they came together, working from one premises, a nurse was employed to take bloods and 70% of the cost of ancillary staff was paid by the NHS. After having practised in Princes Street, a new Health Centre was built in Summerhill, and all the doctors moved there in 1972; two receptionists were appointed and Public Health Services came there as well.

In about 1983, I applied for my practice to be recognised as a training practice, and this was accepted. For eight years out of the next ten, I had a trainee doctor working with me. The young doctors who joined the practice, mostly for a year, were: Dr Hassan, Dr Malachy Murphy, Dr Paul McCormick, Dr Vijay Tohani, Dr Gabriel Scally, Dr Mark McEvoy, Dr Tom O’Leary, Dr Petrina Ryan, Dr Barbara Devlin, Dr Eleanor Brown, Dr Joseph McGivern and Dr Mark Murphy. I had to retire from training in 1993 when I was 60. The following year I applied for my pension and returned to work half time. I invited Dr Mark Murphy my former pupil, to join my practice.

In 1981, Drs Redman and McLaughlin, decided to have another doctor, so the practice amicably split, with Dr David Gaw coming to join them. Dr Mary Henry came to work for me in the morning. Within a year, we had extended our total from three to six doctors, and at the age of 49, I was able to take a winter holiday and went skiing.

In the meantime, the population was slowly expanding, and things were tight in the Health Centre. Dr Joe McGivern, one of my trainees, joined Dr Gaw’s practice when Dr Redman retired, and later Dr McLaughlin’s son, Henry, replaced his father. The practice had become fund-holding and was able to save money. They built a new premises across the road which freed up space in the Health Centre for each of the three doctors to have his own surgery.

In 1987, Dr Henry thought she would like to have a different style of practice and decided to have her own surgery at Marina Surgery on Havelock Place. We asked Dr Petrina Ryan (who had been a trainee) to join our practice. In the following year I was awarded a Fellowship by The Royal Collage of General Practitioners (FRCGP).

I had reduced my work in 1994 to half time and then in 2003, at 70, I had to retire. However, I continued to work as a locum doing an average of three half days per week –up to the age of 80.

Watercolours by Dr A E Douglas (1835 – 1894) who had become the dispensary doctor for Warrenpoint and Mayobridge by 1870. Watercolour painting of landscapes and botanical subjects was one of Dr Douglas’ principal hobbies and he often went on painting expeditions in the Warrenpoint, Rostrevor and Cooley areas. Newry and Mourne Museum Collection