Dorothy Stopford Price : Rebel Doctor

Dorothy Stopford-Price was arguably the most instrumental individual in eradicating the tuberculosis epidemic within Ireland. She introduced the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine to Ireland’s shores which, to this day, prevents children from catching tuberculosis. This illuminating biography uncovers the importance of her medical work and of occasional controversial measures that placed her in opposition to one of the strongest voices in Ireland at the time – the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid. Aside from her compelling trials and successes with the tuberculosis epidemic, Dorothy Stopford-Price’s medical career and social standing made for a fascinating life story. Born within the Protestant Ascendancy to an Anglo-Irish family and a guest of the under-secretary to the British Administration during the Easter Rising, she soon crossed a stark divide, developing an ardent republican outlook that led to her appointment as medical officer to a West Cork Flying Column of the IRA during the War of Independence. Her determination never ceased and, in 1921, she channeled her energies towards eradicating tuberculosis in Ireland. At a time when the Irish medical profession looked to the United Kingdom for leadership, she taught herself German to access scientific literature at the fore of medical developments. Dorothy Stopford Price: Rebel Doctor reflects the provocative and indomitable life of an Irish woman frequently caught at the epicenter of Irish affairs.