Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital

The hospital was established by amalgamating the National Eye Hospital (founded in 1814 by Isaac Ryall) and St. Mark's Ophthalmic Hospital for Diseases of the Eye and Ear (founded by Sir William Wilde in 1844) in 1895. The campaign to do this was spearheaded by ophthalmologist Sir Henry Rosborough Swanzy.{{cite journal|title=The Late Sir Henry Swanzy|journal=The British Medical Journal|date=1 January 1913|volume=1|issue=2730|pages=917|doi=10.1136/bmj.1.2730.917|jstor=25301299|s2cid=220003347}} Along with the authorisation to merge the hospitals, the Dublin Eye and Ear Hospital Act 1895 provided for expansion of the facilities. A site was purchased on Adelaide Road in 1899 and, once new facilities had been constructed, all patients were transferred from the National Eye Hospital and St. Mark's Hospital on 18 February 1904.

Dr. Kathleen Lynn was the first female doctor to work at the hospital when she was appointed in 1910. Lynn went on to establish Saint Ultan's Children's Hospital and became an activist and politician noted for her involvement in the 1916 Easter Rising.{{cite web|title=Lynn, Kathleen (1874-1955), 1916: Diary of rebel doctor|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/1916-diary-of-rebel-doctor-kathleen-lynn-1.2583254|website=www.irishtimes.com|publisher=Harriet Wheelock|access-date=13 October 2016}}

File:Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital.jpg

RVEEH was designed by architects Carroll & Batchelor{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/1002/CARROLL+%26+BATCHELOR#tab_works |title=Carroll & Batchelor - Dictionary of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/32904/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+ADELAIDE+ROAD%2C+ROYAL+VICTORIA+EYE+%26+EAR+HOSPITAL |title=Co. Dublin, Dublin, Adelaide Road, Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital Dictionary of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}} who had previously worked on the Hardwicke Fever Hospital,{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/33465/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+BRUNSWICK+STREET+NORTH%2C+HARDWICKE+FEVER+HOSPITAL |title=Co. Dublin, Dublin, Brunswick Street North, Hardwicke Fever Hospital Dictionary Of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}} the Richmond Surgical Hospital,{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/33473/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+BRUNSWICK+STREET+NORTH%2C+RICHMOND+SURGICAL+HOSPITAL |title=Co. Dublin, Dublin, Brunswick Street North, Richmond Surgical Hospital Dictionary Of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |date=1927-08-20 |access-date=2019-05-06}} St. Mark's Ophthalmic Hospital,{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/36682/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+LINCOLN+PLACE%2C+NO.+032%2C+ST+MARK%27S+OPTHALMIC+HOSPITAL |title=Co. Dublin, Dublin, Lincoln Place, NO. 32, St. Mark's Ophthalmic Hospital Dictionary of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}} St. Edmundsbury Hospital, Lucan,{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/40231/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+ST+EDMUNDSBURY+%28LUCAN%29 |title=Co. Dublin, St. Edmundsbury Hospital, Lucan - Dictionary of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}} Whitworth Fever Hospital (Drumcondra Hospital),{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/60263/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+BRUNSWICK+STREET+NORTH%2C+WHITWORTH+HOSPITAL |title=Co. Dublin, Dublin, Brunswick Street North, Whitworth Hospital Dictionary of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |date=1928-08-18 |access-date=2019-05-06}} and the Royal Hospital for Incurables (Royal Hospital, Donnybrook).{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/33351/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+BLOOMFIELD+AVENUE+%28DONNYBROOK%29%2C+ROYAL+HOSPITAL+FOR+INCURABLES |title=Co. Dublin, Dublin, Bloomfield Avenue (Donnybrook), Royal Hospital For Incurables Dictionary Of Irish Architects |publisher=Dia.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}} The symmetrical building features Queen Anne style architecture.{{cite web|url=http://archiseek.com/2010/1901-royal-victoria-eye-and-ear-hospital-adelaide-road-dublin/ |title=1901 – Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Adelaide Road, Dublin – Archiseek – Irish Architecture |publisher=Archiseek.com |access-date=2019-05-06}} The cost of the original building was £41,862.

The hospital was expanded between 1907 and 1908 and again in 1912, including the addition of an outpatients department, sanitary block, new wing, and expansion of the west wing. A private ward with 9 single rooms was built in 1925. The construction was funded by a donation from Jane Isabella Lewis. The ward was named the Harvey Lewis Wing in memory of her late husband, the politician and lawyer John Harvey Lewis.{{cite web|url=http://www.rveeh.ie/content/wards |title=Wards - Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital |publisher=Rveeh.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}}

In 1915, a bronze relief by Albert Power of ophthalmologist Sir Henry Rosborough Swanzy, father of artist Mary Swanzy, was added to the stair hall.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AQzYxvX_U8MC&q=wiki+henry+rosborough+swanzy&pg=PA491 |title=Dublin: The City Within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road ... - Christine Casey - Google Books |isbn=0300109237 |access-date=2019-05-06|last1=Casey |first1=Christine |year=2005 }}Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 491. In 1932, improvements were carried out at a cost of £57,000. In 1937 and 1939, further works were undertaken on the drainage system, entrance drive, gates, railings, and other additions and alterations. The Graham Audiology Clinic opened in 1961.

The hospital is a registered charity governed by a President, Council and Hospital Management Group. It forms part of the Ireland East Hospital Group.{{cite web|url=http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/3/acutehospitals/hospitalgroups.html |title=Hospital Groups |publisher=HSE.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}}

The hospital provides 80 beds, of which 60 are in-patient and the remaining 20 located in the day care unit. 10 beds are reserved for paediatric patients. Two-thirds of beds are designated for ophthalmology patients, with the remaining third for ear, nose and throat patients.{{cite web|url=http://hiqa.ie/system/files/inspectionreports/Royal_Victoria_Ear_Eye_hygiene_29June2010.pdf|title=Inspection Report: Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital|publisher=HIQA|access-date=6 May 2019}} Service is provided to over 90,000 patients annually, including more than 7,000 in-patients, 40,000 out-patients, and 40,000 emergency department attendees.{{cite web|author=Ophthalmic Post Graduate Teaching Programme |url=http://www.rveeh.ie |title=Making lives better through quality healthcare and innovative research - Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital |publisher=Rveeh.ie |access-date=2019-05-06}}{{cite news |title=The all-seeing Eye (and Ear) |url=http://www.imn.ie/features/3641-the-all-seeing-eye-and-ear |newspaper=Irish Medical News |date=29 March 2011 |access-date=11 January 2012}}

RVEEH is the main teaching hospital for trainee ophthalmologists on the Irish College of Ophthalmologists and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland training scheme. It is the only centre which provides postgraduate examinations for the qualification Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (MRCSI (Ophth)). Undergraduate medical students from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin also attend for rotations in ophthalmology and ear, nose, and throat surgery. In June 2011, Taoiseach Enda Kenny opened a €1.3 million Education and Conference Centre.{{cite web|url=http://medicalindependent.ie/page.aspx?title=taoiseach_opens_education_centre_at_eye_and_ear_hospital |title=Test Homepage – Medical Independent |publisher=Medicalindependent.ie |date=2019-03-13 |access-date=2019-05-06}}

Several MD and PhD students are attached to the hospital. Trainees can receive funding from the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital Research Foundation. The Eithne Walls Research Fund was established in memory of ophthalmology trainee Dr. Eithne Walls who was lost in the Air France Flight 447 crash.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/the-silent-death-of-the-irish-doctors-who-had-so-much-to-live-for--26856485.html|title=The silent death of the Irish doctors who had so much to live for...|date=22 May 2012|publisher=The Independent|access-date=6 May 2019}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.rveeh.ie Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital website]

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Category:Hospitals established in 1895

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Category:1895 establishments in Ireland

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