Sir Patrick Dun

Dun, Sir Patrick, was born in Aberdeen in January 1642. He was a graduate both of Dublin and Oxford. He appears to have early settled in Ireland, and to have made rapid advances in his profession. In June 1681 he was chosen first President of the College of Physicians. He is considered to have been in advance of his age in practical anatomy. He was associated with most of the eminent public men of Ireland in the Dublin Philosophical Society. In 1688 he was made Physician to the Army in Ireland, and in that capacity was present at many of the engagements in the War of 1689-'91. He entered Parliament in 1692 as member for Killileagh — a borough under the influence of his friends the Hamiltons, but appears to have made little figure in the House. In 1696 he was knighted, and in 1705 was appointed Physician-General to the Army. He died 24th May 1713, aged 71, and was buried in St. Michan's Church. He left bequests for the foundation of medical professorships; these were so far diverted from his intention by the Irish Parliament as to be applied to the erection of a great Dublin hospital called after him, commenced in 1803, and finished in 1816. His library is preserved in the College of Physicians, Dublin, where also may be seen a fine portrait of him by Kneller.

Sources

117. Dun, Sir Patrick, Memoir: T. W. Belcher, M.D. Dublin, 1865.