DEREK ROBINSON, a retired surgeon at the Meath Hospital in Dublin and Commissioner of the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, has died.
He was born into a medical family, his father Cecil being a physician at the Meath Hospital and secretary of the medical board for over 60 years. Derek used to say that his first memory of the hospital was being taken, as a six-year-old, to see his father carve the turkey in one of the wards on Christmas Day, a hospital custom that lasted into the 1980s.
Derek was educated at Sandford Park School and Trinity College, taking his clinical studies at the Meath Hospital where he won several prizes, including the senior silver medal for medicine and surgery in his final year.
Following qualification in 1946, he was a house surgeon in the Meath Hospital and joined the St John Ambulance Brigade, being appointed divisional surgeon.
In May 1948, he served on a P&O passenger liner the SS Strathaird, as ship's surgeon on a voyage to Australia, and remained proud of his link with the merchant marine to the end of his days.
On his return he studied for the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, to which he was admitted in 1950. Further training followed at hospitals in England before returning to the Meath, under the tutelage of Henry Stokes, Douglas W Montgomery and Brandon Stephens.
He was appointed a consultant surgeon in the Meath Hospital in 1972, and was also responsible for the accident and emergency department before the speciality of emergency medicine was developed.
He was one of the last truly general surgeons. He could remove a gall-bladder, set a fracture, open the skull to release pressure from injury and even, on one memorable occasion, suture a stab-wound to the heart.
His mentor, Douglas W Montgomery, was commissioner of the St John Ambulance Brigade until his death in 1974, at which stage Derek was appointed to lead the organisation, a role he played up to his death.
He was committed to maintaining a visible presence of the familiar black-and-white uniform, with the motto: "In the service of mankind". He was very supportive of brigade members, visiting older members who were in hospital.
He was in charge of the brigade's contribution to the first aid services during the Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in the Phoenix Park in 1979. He was close to the Papal Cross, in full uniform, during the Mass and afterwards claimed that he had probably been nearer to the pope than any other Irish freemason.
A member of the Masonic Order for more than 50 years, he had been admitted to the 32nd degree, at the pinnacle of the order. His mother lodge was Trinity College Dublin Lodge No 357, which he attended assiduously, even in the month before his death.
He was always prepared to recite, from memory and in Latin, the Trinity College grace before meals, which dates back 400 years.
With the agreement of the Government, he was admitted as a Knight to the Venerable Order of the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem and was delighted to wear the mantle of the order.
He was an archetypal sportsman, enjoying outdoor pursuits. A keen and skilful skier, he once enthusiastically demonstrated the knee action of parallel turns in the front hall of the Meath Hospital, to the admiration of a colleague and the total astonishment of the visitors.
He was an excellent golfer, at one time playing off a three handicap. He held life membership of the Portmarnock and Milltown clubs, was a member of Carrickmines, a long-time president of the Masonic golf society, a past president of the Dublin University Golfing Society, founder member of The Gannets and was also associated with the Sandford Old Boys Union golfing society.
He was much engaged in societies and clubs outside medicine and golf. He was a member of the Kildare Street and University Club and of the Royal Irish Yacht Club. He was also a former president of the Hibernian Catch Club, said to be the oldest musical society in Europe.
He hosted the Meath Hospital annual dinner, a 100-year-old tradition, at the Kildare Street and University clubs for many years.
When he retired from hospital practice in 1989, it was noted that it required the appointment of a consultant in accident and emergency medicine and two orthopaedic surgeons to cover his duties.
Even in retirement, he carried on attending his rooms daily, where he continued with his medico-legal work, although in a more relaxed fashion in latter years.
He is survived by his wife Pam, their two daughters Sarah and Juliet, their partners Tim and Tess, and two grand-daughters, Rachel and Mia.
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Derek Lyster Robinson: born February 14th, 1923; died June 6th, 2008