Alexander Charles O'Sullivan

Dr. Alexander Charles O'Sullivan (1858–18 February 1924), B.A., M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O was Professor of Pathology in the Trinity College Dublin and Senior Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. He was born in County Cork and educated at Trinity College, later becoming a lecturer and then professor at that institution. During World War I he served in Malta with the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was capped once for the Ireland national rugby union team.

Early life and education Dr. Alex O'Sullivan was born in County Cork in May 1858, the son of the Rev. Denis Mitchell O'Sullivan, Rector of Macroom, and Lucia Maria née Swete, as the oldest of four children. He was educated at Tipperary Grammar School and went to Trinity College Dublin. Having studied classics in his first years he suddenly turned to mathematics, and obtained a scholarship in that subject in 1879. In 1881 he was first senior moderator in mathematics and also in ethics and logic. At the close of World War I he was placed in charge of the Central Military Laboratory for Ireland.

Character In his youth he was an accomplished athlete, and he rowed in the college eights and fours. He was a keen yachtsman and golfer, and loved a game of billiards. The British Medical Journal's obituary described Dr. O'Sullivan as "a man of the most lovable character: with simplicity he combined manly courage, as had frequently been displayed in his mountaineering adventures."

Dr. O'Sullivan was a fine classical scholar, and always kept in close touch with the progress of modern mathematics; many men holding chairs in that subject to-day would acknowledge him to be their master. His interest in the development of mathematical research did not interfere with his devotion to philosophy and the classics, and he probably had few equals in his knowledge of cellular pathology. He was an inspiring teacher; his laboratory was a rallying point for medical students and newly qualified physicians in search of advice and guidance.