Literature and medicine

Sir, – Further to recent correspondence (September 1st), let us not forget our own George Sigerson, born near Strabane in 1836, who studied medicine in UCC, was an authority on diseases of the nervous system, and a university professor. An outstanding linguist and poet, he taught himself Irish and translated verse from Irish into English (The Poets and Poetry of Munster and Bards of the Gael and Gall). He was president of the Irish National Literary Society 1893-1924, and his home in Clare Street in Dublin hosted Yeats and other literary figures interested in Gaelic Revivalism. A close friend of many Fenians, and a member of Seanad Éireann in 1922, he is remembered in sport for the Sigerson Cup, the oldest national trophy in Gaelic games competitions. – Yours, etc,

FRANCES GARDINER,

Rathgar,

Dublin 6.