This article is from page 20 of the 2014-01-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
PADDY O’Beirne could be considered the ultimate contradiction – American by birth yet 100 per cent Irish, a man with a strong nationalist upbringing whose father and grandfather were both members of the RIC, a scientist with a steadfast belief in God, a psychiatrist who once had a serious mental illness.
On December 20, 2013, the retired chief psychiatrist at the former Our Lady’s Hospital, Ennis, best known for his fight against a smoking ban in the country’s prisons and mental health institutions, went to meet that God after a long battle with illness.
For those unfamiliar with the retired chief psychiatrist, the make up of his being may seem a contradiction, but for Dr Patrick O’Beirne, one part of his life could not be without the other.
From the darkest parts of his life he found light, from the most painful and horrific he eventually found peace, and from his questioning patients he often found answers to his own uncertainties.
He was one of the first to work to break the stigma associated with mental illness, speaking openly about his own battle with depression and publishing his memoirs.
Dr O’Beirne was born in New York in January 1933 of Irish parents.
He was brought to Ireland as an infant and reared by his grandmother in Mountshannon, following his mother’s death from TB.
Educated in the local primary school in Mountshannon, he later attended St Flannan’s College, Ennis, from 1946 to 1951. Although he once considered the priesthood – following in the footsteps of his two uncles – Paddy opted instead to help his fellow beings through medicine. In 1951 he began studying at the University College Dublin, and graduated with a medical degree in 1958. From January of 1958 to July of the same year he worked as a house surgeon in St Vincent’s Hospital Dublin, before transferring to Portlaoise hospital where he was employed as a house surgeon. In November 1958 he began working in Dr Steven’s Hospital as a house surgeon. It was there he met his wife Marie, a young nurse from Cork. In August 1959 he embarked on a medical career in America, specialising in gynaecology, oncology and general practice before studying psychiatry. Patrick O’Beirne eventually returned to Clare to become chief psychiatrist at Our Lady’s Hospital, Ennis. Through his impressive career, he battled with depression an illness that would see him hospitalised numerous times. He also campaigned for the rights of those with mental health issues and was to the forefront in bringing treatment clinics into the community. Through it all he raised a family with his ever-supportive wife Marie, and maintained a robust sense of humour. He is survived by his beloved Marie, his children Fionnuala, Caimin, Deirdre, Padraig and Grainne, sonsin-laws, daughter-in-laws, grandchildren, family and friends. He was laid to rest in Templemaley Cemetery, Barefield on Christmas Eve.