Hallaran Bennett, Edward

Edward Hallaran Bennett (1837-1907)
Medic
 

Edward Hallaran Bennett was born at Charlotte Quay, Cork on 9 April 1837, the son of a barrister. He attended Hamblin and Porter's School in Cork, and the Academic Institute in Hardcourt Street. He enrolled in medical school at Trinity College Dublin in 1854 at the age of 17. At college he studied under the then professor, Robert Smith, under whom he developed an interest in fractures. He gained the degrees of BA and MB before graduating with a M.Ch. in 1859 and MD in 1864. He was conferred with a fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (RCSI) in 1863.

Following a period as an anatomy demonstrator he was appointed as Surgeon to Sir Patrick Dun’s hospital in 1864. Bennett succeeded Robert Smith as Professor of Surgery in 1873 following his death. He studied fractures, dislocations and bone diseases, recording them at the Pathology Museum at the Trinity College. He described his eponymous fracture at the British Medical Association meeting in Cork in 1880 and today he is best remembered for the fracture he described which still bears his name. Perhaps more importantly however Bennett is accredited with having introduced Antisepsis to Dublin Hospitals. Bennett was also President of the RCSI.

Bennett died in Dublin on 21 June 1907.