Eithne O'Domhnaill, who died on August 24th aged 67, exercised a key influence on nursing practice in Ireland and abroad through her long association with the education and training of nurses. Her career in nursing brought her to hospitals in the Republic, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England and culminated at An Bord Altranais (The Irish Nursing Board).
She was born Eithne Geraldine Marren on October 30th, 1932, to Annie (nee McNulty) and Seamus, a creamery manager, at Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, where she grew up with her three sisters and two brothers. The family was fluent in Irish and, indeed, was host at one stage to Prof H. Wagner, compiler of the Linguistic Atlas of Irish Language.
Eithne O'Domhnaill attended the Marist Convent School, Tubbercurry. She is remembered as having displayed leadership qualities and for her love of the arts. She was a talented artist, an interest to which she returned in later life.
Eithne O'Domhnaill's nursing career began in the 1950s at the Mater Infirmorum Hospital, Belfast. She trained in Edinburgh as a midwife. Her specialist nurse training, education and experience included tuberculosis in White Abbey, Antrim; theatre in London and Sligo; clinical teaching and nurse tutoring in London. In London, she worked in the late 1950s with Sir Terence Millin, who developed the retrograde prostatectomy technique for prostate surgery.
She was a tutor for eight years at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, until she joined An Bord Altranais in 1982.
To An Bord Altranais she brought a wealth and breadth of experience which she put to work on behalf of nurses and the nursing profession. This was a period in which the perception of nurses, both by the profession and the public, underwent a profound change. At the start of the period, nurses were still seen almost as "angels" - though sometimes rather stern ones - in starched uniforms. By the end of the period they were seen as professionals, their status within the health services was deservedly rising and they grew in both capacity and assertiveness.
Eithne O'Domhnaill was an important part of this change. During her years with An Bord Altranais she led many initiatives to improve standards in all areas of education and training of student nurses and midwives and registered nurses. She left her stamp on inspections, examinations, course and conference developments, overseas registration, foreign students, the development of research scholarships for nurses and many policy documents.
Much of that period was characterised by financial stringency and painful budgetary pressures in the health services, a process which began in the first half of the 1980s and gathered pace later. During such a period people like Eithne O'Domhnaill, who both personified and promoted high standards and progress, were of enormous importance.
She pioneered the return to professional practice course for both general nurses and midwives, drawing from her own experience. Initiatives such as these are now looked to increasingly to meet nursing shortfalls in the health services. She represented An Bord Altranais nationally and internationally, in the UK, US, Middle East and Far East.
Throughout this busy career she was deeply involved with her family. She O Domhnaill met her husband Kevin while working in Edinburgh. They married in 1960 and lived in Dublin and London before returning to Dublin in 1974. Kevin was managing director of New Ireland Assurance Company and since retiring has served on a number of boards, both financial and public, in Ireland and Britain.
Eithne O'Domhnaill was a family person and considered her husband to be her best friend. She was a devoted mother and a wise counsellor to each of her five sons, in both their personal and professional lives.
The joy that her 11 grandchildren brought to her was palpable. She was a woman of remarkable energy and whether giving a talk at an international conference, hosting a get-together for her extended and expanding family or washing five rugby kits, she approached everything she did with an unsurpassed efficiency and commitment.
Throughout her life she showed a remarkable empathy for the sick, with a particular expertise for the care of the bedridden. She was a strong advocate of pain control. Her professional dignity and integrity were widely known and respected. She developed personal and life-long friendships with her colleagues, students and those for whom she cared. Her friendships spanned all ages and all walks of life.
She retired in October 1997, after an illustrious career and the tributes paid on that occasion demonstrated the high esteem in which she was held. She was a spiritual person who lived every day to the full until her death last week.
Eithne O'Domhnaill is survived by her husband Kevin and sons, Aonghus, Ciaran, Maghnus, Fiachra and Caoimhghin, sisters Fionnuala, Brid and Aoibheann, and brothers Ciaran and Donal.
Eithne O'Domhnaill: born 1932; died, August 2000