BARRY DUGGAN: AS A scientist in the field of medicine, Prof Barry Duggan, who has died aged 79, played a major role in laying the foundations of clinical biochemistry in Ireland. Academically brilliant, he gained national and international distinction and was president of the Association of Clinical Biochemists in 1975 and again in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
A member of the Royal Irish Academy, he was also awarded a DSc by the National University of Ireland, an extremely rare honour reserved for scientists who have published a large volume of seminal documents on a particular area of research.
A fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland, he was also a member of the Cork Scientific Council.
A talented amateur footballer in his day, he founded the soccer club at University College Cork which famously had its home in a muddy quarry on the campus, now the Boole Library, where generations of students played in fiercely fought, inter-class competitions for the coveted “Quarry Cup”. Sixty years on it is still going strong on an all-weather pitch at the Mardyke.
With an exceptional capacity to look at scientific processes, ask questions and design experiments to answer those questions, he is regarded as making a significant contribution to scientific thinking in this country.
An educationalist at heart, in the competitive world of academia he was not afraid to ruffle feathers at UCC by extending educational bridges to the Cork Institute of Technology, thus starting what is now an excellent joint biomedical sciences programme involving students from both CIT and UCC.
Duggan grew up near the Lough, a quiet suburb surrounding a lake in the heart of Cork city. Educated at Presentation College, he was a graduate of UCC and gained a PhD at UCD.
He went to the US in 1960, doing research work at the National Institute of Health in Washington DC, returning to UCD as a researcher and lecturer for a 10-year period punctuated by a sabbatical visit to the US in 1968 where he worked at St Louis University in Missouri.
In 1971, he joined St Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork, and established a department of biochemistry, an aspect of medical science concerned with the metabolism of human health and disease. It was transferred in 1978 to Cork University Hospital, where two of his daughters work – Cleona as a consultant haematologist and Jennifer as a medical scientist in haematology.
In a personal tribute, Dr Paule Cotter, consultant haematologist, who worked closely with him at the hospital’s pathology department for 20 years, said “the vastness of his support and the paucity of his complaint made him an absolutely wonderful colleague”.
Dr John O’Mullane, who succeeded him as head of the department of biochemistry at CUH, described him as “a very complete practitioner – whether you’re talking about the teaching of scientific biochemistry, its practice in a hospital setting, or his contribution to fundamental research as evidenced by the awarding of a DSc”.
Despite his academic achievements, he carried his learning lightly and had a lifelong interest in humour and philosophy. With a ready Cork wit, he had an ability to defuse difficult situations with a humorous remark.
A social golfer, between bouts of chemotherapy he continued to join old friends for a Sunday afternoon four-ball at Muskerry. Finally opting out through illness, he loved nothing more than to join them after the game for a glass of wine and the customary banter.
He is survived by his wife Ursula (nee Russell), daughters Jennifer, Cleona and Naomi, son Jason, sisters Mona, Breda, Berna and brother Joe.
Barry Duggan: born September 9th, 1932; died April 27th, 2012