Derry Gleeson:DERRY GLEESON, who has died aged 88, was a past president of the Irish Medical Association, a former vice-chairman of the Irish Medical Council and an Ireland and Munster rugby selector.
Born in 1922 in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, he was the son of Jeremiah Gleeson and his wife Mary (née Murphy). His father was a local government inspector and was subsequently posted to Kilkenny and Clonmel.
When he was nine the family moved to Cork. He attended Presentation College, making the senior cup team and matriculating in his final year. The latter was a remarkable achievement as he was only 15 at the time.
He entered University College Cork medical school without sitting the Leaving Certificate. There he was president of the students’ council and active in the medical society and rugby club.
He played for Munster against an Army XV during the Emergency.
Graduating in 1944, he became an intern at Sheffield Royal Infirmary and gained further hospital experience in the area in preparation for a career in general practice. He returned to Ireland to take up an appointment as a senior house officer in obstetrics at the National Maternity Hospital, during which time he played rugby with Clontarf FC.
Following locum and public health appointments in Ennis, Co Clare, he was appointed dispensary doctor in Labesheeda, Kildysart, Co Clare, in 1952. He played Gaelic football with the local club. In 1955, he was appointed dispensary doctor in Ballylinan, Co Laois, and played rugby with Athy FC.
In 1958, he returned to Cork as dispensary doctor in the Grattan Street area. He also opened surgeries in St Mary’s Road and Bishopstown. On his return to Cork he joined UCC rugby club and was coach/selector of the first and second teams. He was a Munster selector for most of the 1960s, when his fellow selectors included Paddy O’Callaghan, Jim Kiernan and Tom Clifford.
He was an Irish selector from 1969 to 1972, and his fellow members of the “Big Five” included coach Ronnie Dawson, Dave O’Leary and Noel Henderson. He served as president of the UCC club from 1975 to 1977.
In the mid-1970s he became involved in medical politics. In 1976 he was a member of an Irish Medical Association delegation to China, and he was elected president of the association in 1977.
Elected to the Medical Council in 1979, he was vice-chairman from 1984 to 1989 during which time he also served as chairman of the ethics council.
A member of the Cork and Waterville golf clubs, he had a wide range of friends and enjoyed a nightly pint in his local hostelry.
Predeceased by his wife Margaret (née O’Gorman) in 2004, he is survived by his sons Dermot, John and Colin and daughter Fiona. All three sons followed him into the medical profession.
Dermot (Derry) Gleeson: born September 15th, 1922; died February 26th, 2011