Dr. Victoria Philomena Dorothy Coffey

Victoria Philomena Dorothy Coffey, born 16 September 1911 at 108 Brunswick Street (parents' given address), weighmaster's child.

Attended Cross and Passion College, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare

Victoria Coffey won numerous medals etc. at Myra Feis and Fr. Matthew Feis. Her addresses, in the various newspaper reports over the years, included Larch Hill, Tibradden (her parents’ estate - now headquarters of Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland http://www.larchhill.org/history/ ), 82 Auguhim Street (one of her paternal grandfather’s properties) and, in 1934, 45 Marlborough Street. She also lived at Venetian Hall, Howth Road (her parents’ home - later demolished and replaced with an apartment complex), and then for several decades at 74 Cowper Road, Rathmines.

Medical Doctor: F.R.C.P.I.; F.F.Paed.R.C.P.I.; F.A.A.P. (Hon.); PhD; M.A.; M.F.C.M.; D.C.H.; M.P.S.I.; L.M.(Coombe). Consultant Paediatrician: St. James's, Dublin (1943 - 1978); and at St. Patrick's Home, Navan Road (1943 - 1985). She set up the first paediatric unit at St. James's, Dublin.

Worked with Oliver St. John Gogarty

Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Paediatrics. WHO Fellowship Award; Fellow of Medical Research Council. Lecurer in Teratology, Trinity College, Dublin (1960 - 1975). First female recipient of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland Distinguished Graduate Medal; first woman president of the Irish Paediatric Association and the Paediatric Section of the Academy of Medicine in Ireland. President of the Irish-American Paediatric Society. Chairman for the women doctors' branch of the Irish Medical Association. Vice Chairperson, E.H.B. Pensioners' Association. Member of the Central Council of the Irish Red Cross Society 1973 - 1982 (nominated by Minister for Defence, Robert Molloy). Member of the Soroptomist Club of Ireland (Dublin Branch). First woman President of the R.C.S.I. Post Graduates' Associatation.

Trained singer (instructed by Dr. Vincent O'Brien). Won several medals at Féis Ceoil. Played piano and cello.

Address: 74 Cowper Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6. She lived here with her parents before their death, and then until her own death.

Portrait commissioned by Royal College of Surgeons Ireland as part of the ‘Women on Walls’ initiative:
https://women.rcsi.com/women/dr-victoria-coffey/ by artist Molly Judd.

An RTE radio documentary episode discusses the career of Dr. Victoria Coffey:
https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0211/1114361-women-on-walls-dr-vict...

The Coffey Ward at Beaumont Lodge transitional care unit in Dublin is named in honour of Dr. Victoria Coffey, and has a plaque including her image and listing some of her achievements. https://www.bartrahealthcare.ie/homes-list/beaumont-lodge-transitio...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Coffey

https://louiseroseingrave.substack.com/p/one-of-the-most-significan...