Barry Bresnihan:PROF BARRY Bresnihan PhD, who has died aged 66, was a former Munster, Ireland, Lions and Barbarian rugby player, a world authority on rheumatology, and a tireless campaigner for a better service for thousands of arthritis suffers in this State.
As professor of rheumatology at UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, he was a consummate professional, dedicated to fostering excellence in the practice of medicine, especially in the care of people with or at risk of developing arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases.
Though modest and understated about the significance of his contributions to international rheumatology research, he received lifetime achievement awards from his peers both in Ireland and America last year.
Not alone was he honoured by the Irish Society for Rheumatology, he was also named a master of the American College of Rheumatology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Marking his work as a research fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, the US award is conferred on physicians, health professionals and scientists, aged 65 or older, who advance rheumatology through programmes of education, research, treatment and care of patients.
As a scientific researcher, scholar and teacher, his students and fellow doctors were the beneficiaries of Bresnihan’s ground-breaking work, particularly in the field of rheumathoid arthritis.
During his brilliant academic career, he published extensively and lectured at conferences and universities all over the world.
As a doctor, his patients knew they were receiving the best of treatment under his hands. He had a reputation for telling patients the facts about their condition in a straightforward but sensitive and caring manner.
So popular was he with his patients that when he retired in 2008 a number of them took him out to dinner.
In 2005, he addressed the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, depicting a bleak picture of the incidence of arthritis in this State, its medical and social cost, and the shortage of staff and facilities to deal with it.
As chairman of Arthritis Ireland, he underlined the limited nature of the service available here, the waiting times for treatment, and the inadequacy of statistical research here despite the importance of research as a fundamental element of good-quality clinical care.
He estimated that every year some 400,000 people in Ireland consulted their doctor with symptoms relating to arthritis. In sharp contrast with Britain, where the recommended ratio for an adequate rheumatology service was one full-time equivalent consultant per 85,000 population, he estimated that the service in the Republic was being provided by one wholetime equivalent consultant per 400,000.
Born in Waterford, he went to school at Gonzaga College in Dublin before studying medicine at UCD, following in the footsteps of his father, Con, who was a GP with a special interest in occupational health.
An outstanding rugby player, when already on the Munster team he impressed the Irish selectors, gaining a trial for the “Possibles” in January 1966.
He won his first cap against England the following month, a 6-6 draw at Twickenham. He went on to score his first international try in a 9-6 victory over Wales at Lansdowne Road.
With a shock of red-brown hair, he was a striking figure in the outside centre position and won 25 caps in all between 1966 and 1971, scoring five tries for Ireland.
He made two tours with the British lions. In 1966, though called up as a replacement for the Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand, he did not play in any of the internationals. But he played in all three tests during the 1968 Lions tour of South Africa.
The highlight of his provincial career came in 1967 when he played in the Munster side that famously beat Australia 11-8. He also played for the Barbarians. His club rugby was with UCD, Lansdowne, and London Irish.
An enthusiastic hill walker, he and his wife Val climbed Kilimanjaro and Mount Erebus, following his retirement.
He also went to Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, helping to distribute food among the victims.
He is survived by his wife, Valerie, daughters Niamh, Ciara and Lia, and son Rory.
Finbarr (Barry) Bresnihan: born March 13th, 1944; died July 18th, 2010
