Convict Doctor/Poet Wife

Dr Kevin Izod O'Doherty - Convict Doctor.

Born in Dublin in 1824 O'Doherty received a good education and studied Medicine, but before he was qualified, joined the Young Ireland party and in June 1848 established “The Irish Tribune”. On 10 July 1848. O'Doherty was arrested and charged with treason-felony. He was found guilty and sentenced to transportation to Van Diemen’s Land for 10 years. O'Doherty arrived in Tasmania in November 1849, was at once released on parole and his professional services were utilised at St. Mary's Hospital, Hobart.

In 1854 he received a pardon with the condition that he must not reside in Great Britain or Ireland. He went to Paris and carried on his Medical studies, making while there a secret trip to Dublin in order to marry "Eva," of the Nation. He received an unconditional pardon in 1856, and completed his studies in Dublin, graduating FRCS in 1857 and L.M. and L.R.Q.C.P. in 1859. After practising in Dublin for some time with much success, Kevin and Eva, with three sons and servant girl, arrived in Australia in 1860 Another son was born in Geelong, Victoria and then for several months the Irish doctor practised in Sydney.

The family moved to Queensland. Kevin was registered in Queensland on 3 March 1862. He set up practice in Ipswich. Soon after his arrival in the town O'Doherty offered his professional services in an honorary capacity to the newly established Ipswich Hospital and he actively supported many local charitable institutions. It was in Ipswich that O'Doherty first demonstrated his loyalty to the Catholic Church and the Bishop Quinn. For several years before the arrival of the Bishop in the colony, Father William McGinty had cared for the Catholics in Ipswich. He had built a church and had in hand a considerable sum to build a convent and buy an organ for the church. Bishop Quinn believed, as head of the Church in the colony, that he had a perfect right to become a Trustee of McGinty's fund. The latter, strongly supported by most of his flock, resisted such a move. O'Doherty had only arrived a short time in Ipswich when the incident arose but he spoke at a meeting of priests and laity in favour of the Bishop. He said, "unless Catholics were prepared to support the Bishop in preference to Father McGinty, they might as well turn protestants", and he then urged the people to assist the Bishop "to carry out measures he may deem necessary to vindicate his authority as chief pastor and administrator of the Church in the district".

The doctor and his family shifted to Brisbane in August 1865. He soon built up a busy practice and there is ample evidence to show that he was a very sound doctor. Over a hundred years ago he gave a report of an autopsy he had performed which any present-day pathologist would be proud to present. The organic cause of death was quite evident from O'Doherty's report but the coroner for which it was prepared gave a verdict of "visitation from God".

For the next twenty years he was to be prominent in many fields - medical, political, church and public affairs. The medical profession indicated its esteem by electing him President of the Queensland Medical Society in 1882. The Government appointed him a member of the Medical Board of Queensland and the Central Board of Health. In 1877 he was nominated a member of the Legislative Council. It was only natural that Dr. O'Doherty was to the forefront when debates on health matters were being held. He introduced the first Health Act to be passed by the Queensland Parliament, and was either a member of or gave expert evidence before select committees on Health subjects. He retained his seat till 1886, when he resigned, with the view of settling in Europe.

He was received with great cordiality on his return to Ireland, and was at once nominated and returned to the House of Commons for Meath in the Parnellite interest. After a few months, however, he resigned his seat in Parliament, and returned to Queensland. In the final fifteen years until Kevin's death in 1905 the fates were very cruel to the Irish doctor and his wife. He made an attempt to enter private practice again, but this failed. At various times he was Medical Officer to the Volunteer Forces, and on the consulting staff of the General Hospital. In a few years blindness prevented him carrying out his duties. On 15 July 1905, the great man breathed his last.

Eva -The Poet.

During her life in Australia, Eva was less prominent than she had been in Ireland. Of course, the stimulus to write the nationalistic poems she had contributed to “The Nation” in Ireland was no longer present. She was a busy housewife with a husband and five children to care for. However, her pen was not completely idle. When she did compose new verse, the subjects indicated her adopted country as is seen in her poem "Queensland":

Thou art in sooth a lovely land

As fair as ever fancy painted.

In virgin freshness calm and bland.

By shadows dark untainted.

But ah! Upon that bright expanse

The glory of a dim Elysian,

'Tis but a cold and soulless glance

That meets the gazer's vision.

Following Kevin’s death Eva lived for another five years in difficult circumstances. Her only surviving child, Gertrude and her only grandson lived with her. Her letters to Father Hickey in Yorkshire tell of her loneliness and her great sadness at being neglected by the Irish for whom she and her husband had attempted so much. It was during this period that, at the age of 76 years, she wrote the poem which depicts the great sorrow that was hers when one after another she lost first her four sons and finally her beloved husband - “Tenebrae”.

In 1910, Eva died at the age of eighty years. The only grandson was killed in France during World War 1, fighting with the Australian Forces. And so, the Irish medico and his poetess wife were laid to rest. Their’s was no ordinary life. They survived many hardships; Kevin's transportation with its heart-breaking separation; the nine years delay in his graduation as a Doctor; emigration to a new land; the loss of their children; the financial difficulties and finally Kevin's blindness. But, they were made of stern stuff. They lived for eighty years despite all these vicissitudes and enjoyed many triumphs. Their lives were lived on a higher plane than most and they lifted to that plane many who lived around them.

Sources: “FROM CONVICT TO DOCTOR THE LIFE OF KEVIN O'DOHERTY” The Clem Lack Memorial Oration 1981 by Dr. P. Ross Patrick.

State Archives Queensland