A Short History of Physiotherapy in Ireland

Miss Amelia Hogg set up the first Irish School of Massage at 86 Lower Lesson Street, Dublin in 1905. Nine years later the school moved to 12 Hume Street and remained there for 50 years.

Miss Hogg had trained as a nurse, and the 1911 census recorded that she was a masseuse and a Member of the Incorporated Society of Trained Masseuses (later the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy), which was based in Britain. British Red Cross records show that Miss Hogg volunteered for the War Effort between 1914 and 1919 and that,

… she gave massage treatments free to wounded soldiers at 12 Hume Street. Also did massage work at the Royal City of Dublin Hospital”.

Miss Hogg retired in 1922 and Miss Agnes Allen, who had trained under Miss Hogg, became Head of the School, a position she held for 47 years. She was a very well-respected teacher and was made a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) in 1948.

The privately run School updated its name to become the Dublin School of Physiotherapy in 1943. Hume Street closed in 1972, and moved to its present site at St James Hospital. From the beginning students had attended lectures and anatomy demonstrations at Trinity College Dublin and in 1957 the awarding of a diploma was initiated. The School ceased being a private fee-paying school when it came under the auspices of the Federated Dublin Voluntary Hospitals in 1968. In 1982 the Dublin School of Physiotherapy became fully integrated into the Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine.

New schools open

In 1955 the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Physiotherapy was set up by Sister Kathleen Reynolds. It was the first school in the United Kingdom and Ireland to start as a university course and offered a University Diploma in 1973. Both schools offered a degree course by 1983 and the first intake graduated in 1987. There are now five thriving schools of Physiotherapy in Ireland following the establishment of schools in Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (1998), University of Limerick (2002) and University College Cork (2018).

How the profession evolved

In tandem with the evolving education process the professional body began with informal meetings between Miss Hogg and her counterparts in Britain. In 1923 the Chartered Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics set up local boards and one of these was the Irish Local Board. The Irish Local Board was very active and branches around the country were later set up. The inaugural meeting of the Dublin Branch took place in 1938.

For fifty years all chairpersons of the ILB were medical doctors, with physiotherapists as Honorable Secretaries.

In later years, the Irish Local Board members debated setting up a separate Irish Society due to the concerns that the CSP could not represent Irish concerns over pay and conditions, uncertainty that UK insurance was adequate in the Irish context, concerns over not having direct representation on the world and EU stage, and the issue of State Registration.

Establishment of Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists

At an Extraordinary General Meeting in October 1983 the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists was established with the blessing and support of the CSP. The Society received a lump sum from the CSP as a proportion of the contribution from the Irish Local Board over the years. A new constitution and structure were agreed.

The structure of the Society has evolved over the years and there are now eleven clinical interest groups, and also research groups and academics pushing the boundaries in many areas of physiotherapy. The Society consistently punches above its weight on the international stage with many representatives on World Physiotherapy and Europe Region committees including Dr Emma Stokes who served two four-year terms as President of World Physiotherapy, from 2015-23.

NB. This article is based on a presentation delivered as part of the Society’s 40^th Anniversary, which was held in November 2023 in the Camden Court Hotel, Dublin.

References

Oakley, D. ed, (2005). ‘Hands On’ for 100 Years. A History of Physiotherapy in Ireland 1905-2005. ISCP, Dublin.

Posted by Theresa Flynn

Theresa Flynn qualified with BA Physio (1986) Trinity College Dublin, MAppl Science SHWW (2001) UCD and Dip Leadership (2023) UCC. She currently works as Senior Physiotherapist in Ergonomics at St Vincent's University Hospital. She was Hon Secretary of Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (1990-92) and has been involved in many committees over the years particularly in Chartered Physiotherapists in Occupational Health and Ergonomics. She is currently a board member of the ISCP. She was a member of the organization committee for the ISCP 40 years Celebration and gave a presentation on the development of the profession in Ireland at these celebrations.

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