Born: 07 January 1915, Kimmage Road, Kimmage, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 05 October 1933, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois

Left Society of Jesus: 31 January 1935

Father was a business man

Only child

early education was at two convent school and then at Belvedere College SJ for eight years.

Born: 23 August 1923, Casimir Road, Harold’s Cross, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1942, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois

Left Society of Jesus: 01 April 1943

Father, Gerald, was a shopkeeper and family lived at Aughrim, County Galway. Mother was Annie (Sweeney).

Younger of two boys with two sisters.

Early education was for two years at a National School in Aughrim and then at St Joseph’s, Garbally College Ballinasloe.

Baptised at Church of Mary Immaculate Refuge of Sinners, Rathmines Road, Dublin, 26/08/1923
Confirmed at St Catherine’s Church, Aughrim, County Galway, by Dr Dignam of Clonfert, 15/05/1934

Born: 06 January 1921, Armstrong Street, Harold’s Cross, Dublin
Entered: 10 January 1942, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois

Left Society of Jesus: June 1942

Brother Novice

Educated at Coláiste Mhuire, Parnell Square, Dublin and Synge Street CBS to 3rd year Secondary. He wanted to enter as a scholastic and was recommended to St Kevin’s College OMI, Enniskerry, County Wickow (Oblate House of Studies for late vocations) by Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ, in order to get his Latin studies done. He bgean in September 1941, but did not stick with it.

Employed by W&R Jacobs, Peter’s Row, Dublin as a machine worker 1938-1941

Baptised at Church of Mary Immaculate Refuge of Sinners, Rathmines Road, Rathmines, Dublin, 09/01/1921
Confirmed at St Kevin’s Church, Harrington Street, Dublin, 01/03/1932

After he left he joined the army and was stationed at McKee Barracks, Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin. He then applied to the Order of St Camillus at Killucan, County Westmeath in 1944.

Born: 01 June 1934, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1960, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 1972, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria (as an SMA)
Died: 27 March 2010, London England

Left Society of Jesus: 21 August 1961

Originally C of I - Baptised Catholic 1957 - Father (Augustus) a C of I clergyman, so moved around Dublin regularly to live, (Lower Kimmage Road, Terenure; Finglas Rectory; Kill Glebe, Blackrock and then Rathmichael Rectory, Shankhill)but lived for a while also at Glenealy, County Wicklow. He also lived at Stamer Street, Portobello, Dublin.

Had a BA from Trinity College Dublin

2 Sisters. At time of entry parents were separated. Mother was living then at Leinster Road, Rathmines.

Baptised at Harold’s Cross Protestant Church, then in Catholic Church at University Church, St Stephen’s Green 08/12/1957. Confirmed at Clonliffe, January 1958

Had been a Deacon in the Church of Scotland. Taught at St Conleth’s, Dublin for three years

Educated at Avoca School, Blackrock (Newpark Comprehensive, Newtownpark Ave). Had a BA from Trinity College Dublin

Went to Divinity School at Mountjoy Square, Dublin. Lived at Morehampton Road, Dublin and then at Merton Drive, Ranelagh, and then in a flat with his sister at Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin.

Joined Society of African Missions (SMA)

https://sma.ie/fr-douglas-bluett-sma/

Fr Douglas H Bluett SMA dies in London

The SMA British Province has lost its senior missionary with the death of Fr Douglas (Dougie) Bluett in a London hospital on Monday, 27 March 2010.

In recent years he had suffered from cancer though never allowed it to dim his missionary calling. He continually requested a return to front line service in Africa though his illness meant that his wish could not be granted.

Fr Bluett, born in Dublin in 1934 was raised in the Church of Ireland before converting to Catholicism and becoming a Catholic priest.

He was ordained in Keffi, diocese of Makurdi, by Archbishop Peter Y Jatau of Kaduna, Nigeria in 1972. For 36 years Fr Bluett ministered in several parishes in the diocese of Makurdi, most notably Doma. He was a renowned teacher and for many years taught at St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Makurdi. He had the great joy of seeing part the area where he worked made into a separate diocese, Lafia.

Fr Bluett is mourned by his sister, extended family, friends and his confreres in the British Province as well as in the wider Society.

Fr Rob Morland informs us that, in accordance with his wishes Fr Dougie will be buried alongside other SMA colleagues Manchester.

Born: 17 December 1948, Albany Road, Ranelagh, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 23 November 1966, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Died: 31 December 2024, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin (Rathfanham, Dublin)

Left Society of Jesus: 01 April 1967

Father, Kevin, was an Architect. Mother was Patricia (Moyne).

1 Younger Brother; 3 older and 1 younger Sisters

Educated at Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin

Baptised at St Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, Dublin, 23/12/1948
Confirmed at Church of the Holy Name, Beechwood Avenue, Dublin, by Dr Dunne of Dublin, 09/03/1960

Lived in Rathfarnham until his death in 2024

https://rip.ie/death-notice/peter-barry-dublin-rathfarnham-580017

The death has occurred of

Peter Barry
Rathfarnham, Dublin

Peter Barry (Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin), 31st December, 2024. Peacefully, in the wonderful care of the staff at St. Vincent's Private Hospital, surrounded by his loving family. Predeceased by his parents Maureen and Peter and his sister Paula. Peter will be sadly missed by his beloved wife Anne and cherished son Graham. Peter will be greatly missed by his sisters, brother, nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, extended family and friends.

A celebration of Peter's life will take place on Saturday at 2pm (4th January) in Fanagans Funeral Home, Willbrook, Rathfarnham, D14W029, followed by Cremation in Mount Jerome.

Date Published:
Tuesday 31st December 2024

Date of Death:
Tuesday 31st December 2024

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/peter-barry-one-of-the-foremost-eye-surgeons-of-his-generation-1.2688815

Obituaries
Peter Barry: One of the foremost eye surgeons of his generation
Obituary: He used surgical skill, persuasiveness and humility to achieve the best possible clinical outcomes

Peter Barry FRCS, who has died unexpectedly after a brief illness aged 67 years, was one of the foremost eye surgeons of his generation. As well as being an international ambassador for Irish ophthalmology, he was the national clinical lead for ophthalmology, leading wide-reaching reforms in hospital and community delivery of eye healthcare.

He pioneered major surgical advances in Irish and European ophthalmology: modern cataract surgery and primary vitrectomy for retinal detachment repair in the early 1980s.

Having wide-ranging international impact, he was a cofounder and recently president of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS). In addition to superb surgical outcomes in his own patients, thousands more had safer cataract surgery when he chaired the first international clinical trial proving the benefit of prophylactic antibiotics. This landmark study has now been accepted worldwide as setting the clinical standard of care in dramatically reducing post-operative infection, the most devastating blinding complication of cataract surgery.

Peter James Barry was born in Dublin and educated at Gonzaga College. Being academic, gregarious and quietly religious, he briefly started Jesuit studies but quickly switched to UCD medical school. Clinical training in ophthalmology began at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, with completion of the majority of his clinical residency at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.

Absolute focus
Fellowship training followed in London and the US in vitreoretinal surgery, then in its infancy, but Moorfields quickly established itself as an international leader under Peter’s mentors, David McLeod, Peter Leaver and Robert Cooling. Appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon in 1984 to his alma mater, the Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, he initiated vitreoretinal surgery and maintained a continuous separate retinal detachment rota.

He had a joint appointment with St Vincent’s University Hospital, where he quickly established a dedicated registrar cataract training module.

As ESCRS president, he established three themes: youth, education and research which reflected his lifetime clinical focus. He took an immense interest in fostering the careers of many future ophthalmologists. Combining the attributes of high clinical and surgical acumen, work ethic and attention to detail, his clinics and operating lists were both intense and occasionally dramatic. Mentoring by example, he expected the same absolute focus. Patient empathy was his main driving force and he used his surgical skill, persuasiveness and humility to achieve the best possible clinical outcomes.

Charismatic and debonair
Peter Barry’s Sunday routine began with a ward round at the Eye and Ear Hospital accompanied by his daughter Lisa, followed by ice cream and reading at Mass at St Vincent’s.

Charismatic and debonair, he was great company in social situations and an eloquent protagonist in formal meetings. He was just as happy delivering the Ridley Medal Lecture as sharing clinical woes with a colleague.

He was a devoted family man and he is survived by his wife Carmel and four adult children, David, Stephen, Simon and Lisa.

https://soevision.org/news/peter-barry/

Peter Barry
The SOE Board and Committees would like to extend their sincere sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of Dr Peter Barry, FRCS, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology in St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, who died Thursday, 26 May 2016 after a short illness.

Dr Barry was the senior retinal surgeon at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin. Having completed his training at Moorfield’s Eye Hospital in London, UK, Dr Barry completed a retinal fellowship in the United States. Dr Barry was a founding member of the ESCRS and served as Treasurer, President, Director and guiding light at ESCRS. He was also an integral part The European Alliance for Vision Research and Ophthalmology.

He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

https://www.escrs.org/eurotimes/peter-barry-1948-2016

PETER BARRY 1948-2016

David Spalton
Published: Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Peter’s sudden and tragic death was a shock for all of us. He was a particularly good friend to me and to many of you who are reading this.
Peter co-organised the European Intraocular Implant Club meeting in Dublin, Ireland in 1990. It was at this meeting that the decision was taken to change the name of the society to the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, and from that time Peter served as a board member, treasurer, then as president, and finally
as a director.

Throughout all these years he was a steady guiding hand, the work of the society never far from his heart, and the formative role he had in the success of the ESCRS cannot be overstated. In my opinion this success was due to two strong personality attributes – the first being a superb ability to chair a committee meeting, and the second being a dogged determination to see something through to the end once he had started on it, strongly aided by some Irish charm and a puckish sense of humour.

Time and time again I would watch in admiration as, during a committee meeting, after a sometimes lengthy and rather stringent discussion, he would summarise the problem and come up with the common-sense solution that we had all missed, which we could all agree on, and then we would move on to the next item on the agenda.

Through his friendship with Ulf Stenevi and Mats Lundström, he led the way in developing the society’s studies in the prevention of postoperative endophthalmitis and benchmarking surgical outcomes with the
EUREQUO database.

His greatest memorial will be the endophthalmitis study which eventually turned out to be the biggest antibiotic study ever undertaken. He conceived the project, raised the finance and put together a dedicated and expert team, and then saw the project through the trials and tribulations of regulation, bureaucracy and recruitment until its
eventual success.

As we all know now, the intracameral injection of cefuroxime at the end of surgery reduces the incidence of infection five-fold. The study has become the standard of care in many countries and we, as surgeons, and more importantly our patients have good reason to be grateful to him. Few of us will ever leave such a legacy.

Peter was educated at Gonzaga College in Dublin. At one time he contemplated a career in the Church and few of us knew he retained a strong Christian faith throughout his life. However, he went into medicine instead, graduating from University College Dublin in 1974, where he won the Medical Society Gold Medal and also the Gibson Cup, the Irish Medical Schools Debating Cup (perhaps an early sign of later achievements).

He was a resident at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London from 1976 to 1979, followed by a retina fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. After this he returned to a consultant appointment at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.

His funeral took place on the most perfect Irish summer day at the church opposite St Vincent’s Hospital, with a congregation packed to standing room only with his family, his friends and colleagues, golfing chums, and I suspect a large number of grateful patients too. Lisa, his 20-year-old daughter, with great courage and fortitude, gave a eulogy none of those present will ever forget. It was an incredibly sad end to a life so well lived and we all extend our sympathy to his wife Carmel, and his children David, Stephen, Simon and Lisa.

Prof David Spalton is President of the ESCRS

https://www.vision-research.eu/index.php?id=1058

Professor Peter Barry passed away

It is with very great sadness that the EVI announces the death of our colleague Dr Peter Barry, who passed away on Thursday, 26 May 2016 after a short illness.

He was a person of great vision who made an immense contribution not only to the success of the ESCRS but to the wider world of ophthalmology, as indicated by our featured article under http://www.vision-research.eu/index.php?id=888 in remembrance of Peter

Peter Barry was head of the Department of Ophthalmology in St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin and was the senior retinal surgeon at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin. Having completed his training at Moorfield's Eye Hospital in London, one of the largest eye hospitals in the world, Peter completed a retinal fellowship in the USA.

Peter has served on the Board of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons for over twenty years first - as Treasurer and as President of this prestigious Society. He was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the Irish College of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, and the United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

Peter will be sorely missed.