Edward Hallaran Bennett (9 April 1837, Charlotte Quay,

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

– 21 June 1907, Dublin) was an Irish surgeon, now remembered for describing

Bennett's fracture Bennett's fracture or Bennett fracture is a type of partial broken finger involving the base of the thumb, and extends into the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint. Treatment typically requires surgery. This intra-articular fracture is the most comm ...

Life

Bennett was born at Charlotte Quay,

, the fifth and youngest son of the leading barrister and judge Robert Bennett,

Recorder of Cork The recorder of Cork was a judicial office holder in pre-Independence Ireland. The recorder was the chief magistrate of Cork city: his principal duty was to keep the peace. The office was very similar to that of the recorder of Dublin, except that ...

, and his wife Jane Saunders Hallaran. Both his grandfathers, James Bennett and William Saunders Hallaran, were well-known doctors: Hallaran wrote extensively on

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

. Another of Edward's close relatives was James Richard Bennett (died 1830), a distinguished lecturer in

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

in Paris. Bennett attended Hamblin and Porter's School in Cork, and the Academic Institute in Hardcourt Street. He studied at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, gaining a BA, and MB before graduating with a M.Ch. in 1859 and

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

in 1864. He was professor of

and

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

at the Trinity College from 1873 to 1906. He studied

fractures Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

dislocations In materials science, a dislocation or Taylor's dislocation is a linear crystallographic defect or irregularity within a crystal structure that contains an abrupt change in the arrangement of atoms. The movement of dislocations allow atoms to sli ...

and

bone disease Bone disease refers to the medical conditions which affect the bone. Terminology A bone disease is also called an "osteopathy", but because the term osteopathy is often used to refer to an alternative health-care philosophy, use of the term can ...

s, recording them at the Pathology Museum at the Trinity College. He described his eponymous fracture at the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

meeting in Cork in 1880. He is said to have introduced

antiseptic An antiseptic ( and ) is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue to reduce the possibility of sepsis, infection, or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from ''antibiotics'' by the latter's abil ...

technique to Dublin, and became president of the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

. He married in 1870 Frances Conolly Norman, daughter of Conolly Norman of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, and cousin of the leading alienist

Conolly Norman Conolly Norman (12 March 1853 – 23 February 1908) was an Irish alienist, or psychiatrist, of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the Resident Medical Superintendent of a number of district asylums, most notably Ireland's ...

, and had two daughters, one of whom predeceased him.

References

1837 births 1907 deaths Irish orthopaedic surgeons Medical doctors from Cork (city) 19th-century Irish medical doctors 19th-century surgeons People educated at Hamblin and Porter's Grammar School Alumni of Trinity College Dublin {{Ireland-med-bio-stub