Hubert (Hubie) O'Connor:HUBERT (HUBIE) O'Connor, who has died aged 77, was a popular obstetrician and gynaecologist, Francophile and former Irish rugby international.
He was born in 1933 in Dublin to Christopher and Rita before moving aged five to Enniscrone, Co Sligo, after his father was appointed as the local general practitioner and district medical officer.
He was one of five children, all of whom followed their father into the medical profession.
He attended Terenure College in Dublin as a boarder where he developed a passion for rugby before going on to study medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. He was a key member of the university’s first 15, where he became a skilled wing-forward.
O’Connor was proud to represent Ireland as flanker in all four games in the 1957 Five Nations Championship; Jackie Kyle captained the side for two of the neophyte’s four internationals.
Although a medical student at Sir Patrick Dun’s hospital, after qualification in 1959, he interned at the Adelaide hospital under Prof Nigel Kinnear who may have been instrumental in poaching the newly qualified graduate. He then travelled to the University of Lyon to begin postgraduate studies in obstetrics and gynaecology and to continue to play rugby.
A year later he moved to London where he worked his way through senior house officer and registrar posts before becoming senior registrar at St Bartholomew’s hospital. London Irish benefited from his rugby skills during the 12 years he spent in the city.
There, he met the love of his life, Anne Sudreau, and they were married in 1970. He liked living in London and enjoyed teaching but wrote in later years: “There was the added problem of abortion. It was not a religious thing with me, I just knew it was wrong”.
Returning to Dublin in 1973, he set up in practice at Mount Carmel hospital, where his superb bedside manner and obstetrical skills meant he quickly built up a thriving practice. He never grumbled about the frequent 3am calls from the labour ward to tell him “she’s ready”.
Indeed he found genuine happiness in sharing in the joy of women giving birth and was noted for the amount of time he spent with his patients.
Although his wife’s father served in a De Gaulle administration and he himself was a committed Francophile, his interest in Dr Barry O’Meara, Napoleon’s doctor, was sparked when he was glancing through a bookshelf at a friend’s house.
Thus began a 30-year labour of love, researching and eventually writing The Emperor and the Irishman. Published in 2008, it focused largely on Dr O'Meara's diary entries which recount conversations with Napoleon on a day-to-day basis during Napoleon's banishment on the south Atlantic island of St Helena.
But the author also made the long journey from South Africa to St Helena as part of his research. He subsequently lectured widely on the subject and was awarded a memorial medal by the Royal Academy of Medicine last year.
As well as writing he was an avid painter of portraits and landscapes, his style used vivid colours; mourners at his funeral were asked to “please wear an item of bright colour to the Mass to celebrate his vibrant life”. A regular golfer, he loved the social interaction the sport provided.
Predeceased by his wife, Hubert is survived by two children, Juliette and Nicky; two sisters and a brother, and by his grandchildren, Hugo and Charlotte.
Hubert Stephen O’Connor: born September 2nd, 1933; died February 11th, 2011