1
5th November, 1918./// The Registrar,
Trinity College,
Dublin. Dear Sir, I am requested by the President and Fellows of the
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland to write to you
with reference to the King's Professorship of the Institutes
of Medicine in the School of Physic which has become vacant
owing to the presumed death of the late Sir William Henry
Thompson on October 10, 1918. As you are aware the vacant Professorship must be
advertised for three months before elections can be held. The President and Fellows
are anxious to know what
arrangements the Board of Trinity College would wish to
be made for the discharge of the late Professor's duties
till the appointment of his successor. Further, does the Board of Trinit College
desire
that the elections should be held at the earliest possible
2
date, or that such election should be pestponed for the
present? The next meeting of the College will be held on
on Friday, December 6, and I shall be glad to lay the views
of the Board before the President and Fellows on that
date. Yours faithfully,
Fellow & Registrar.
From 1910 until 1954 Thomas Percy Kirkpatrick (1869-1954) served as the registrar
for the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. He also served as the general secretary
of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. He took a particular interest in what
were then termed venereal diseases; to encourage his patients (many of whom were prostitutes)
to attend, he held a clinic for women at a discreet early morning hour to facilitate
anonymity.
John Pentland Mahaffy (1839-1919) wrote much on the history of Trinity College Dublin
and was appointed Vice-Provost in 1913. He served as Provost of Trinity College Dublin
from November 1914 until his death in 1919.