Overview

The teaching of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Trinity College began in the 18th century with the appointment in 1749 of Nathaniel Barry as King's Professor of Surgery and Midwifery.  After Barry's death in 1785, no further professorial appointment in midwifery was made in Trinity College until 1827 when William Fetherston-Haugh Montgomery was appointed Professor of Midwifery. Under Montgomery, the teaching of midwifery became an integral part of the curriculum in the School of Physic in Trinity College.

In 1837, Montgomery published his classic work, "An exposition of the sign and symptoms of pregnancy, the period of human gestation and the signs of delivery". This book was translated into several languages. His name is remembered whenever Montgomery's follicles in the areola of the breast are mentioned as an early sign of pregnancy. The Montgomery Lecture Theatre in the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences perpetuates his memory.

Since the 18th century, the teaching of midwifery was linked to the Rotunda Lying-In Hospital when Bartholomew Mosse opened his small hospital in George's Lane in 1745. Mosse had the distinction of providing the first Maternity Hospital in what was then the British Dominions. The Rotunda Hospital was built through the efforts of Bartholomew Mosse and opened in 1757. Students from Trinity College attended the Rotunda Hospital from 1770 onwards and lectures in midwifery began in 1774.

Until 1975, with the appointment of Professor John Bonnar, the Professor was a part-time appointment.  Professor Deirdre Murphy was appointed in 2006 and was the first female Chair of Obstetrics in Ireland.