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Abstract
Daniel
O’Sullivan (1760-1796): An Irish military physician in
late colonial Mexico
Fiona Clark (Queen's University Belfast)
This
paper will investigate the impact of the work of an
individual Irishman, Daniel O’Sullivan, within the context
of events in the history of medicine in late colonial
Mexico
. As the paper will demonstrate, O’Sullivan stands as
prime example of one of the many Irish migrants studying and
working within the medical arena of a geographically and
culturally diverse eighteenth-century world.
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Trained
at the universities of
Toulouse
and
Montpellier
, with later experience garnered across
France
,
Britain
, and
Spain
, O’Sullivan stands, in many ways, as an example of the
new breed of self-assured medical man appearing in the final
decades of the eighteenth century. On his arrival with the
Spanish Infantry in
Mexico
he became one of the first scientifically trained foreigners
in
Mexico
to study in the newly established Royal Botanical Gardens,
thereby becoming involved in one of the bitterest polemics
surrounding the introduction of European scientific systems
in colonial
America
. As will be shown, unlike many foreign physicians who
practised covertly in
Mexico
, O’Sullivan associated with the highest echelons of
Spanish colonial society and was a decisive player in events
concerning public and military healthcare. In the Spanish
Americas the growing professionalisation of the medical
world, and the institutionalisation of many interconnected
areas of science, brought questions of patriotic identity to
the forefront of Creole experience, frequently colouring
their response to new European arrivals. In particular,
O’Sullivan’s work sheds new light on the internal
workings of the hospital system, providing a rich and
detailed account of the deception and intrigue at work
behind the search for a non-mercurial treatment of syphilis
in the early 1790s. This study will examine the significance
of O’Sullivan’s role in the midst of political and
scientific change, and explore the effect of Creole
discontent on the path of his career, including the
positions he held in the army, Mexican hospitals, and later
attempts to enter the Royal Pontifical University of Mexico.
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