Bethel Solomons

Bethel Albert Herbert Solomons (27 February 1885 – 11 September 1965), born into a prominent Jewish family, was an Irish medical doctor and an international rugby player for Ireland and supporter of the 1916 Rising.

Early life Bethel Albert Herbert Solomons born in Dublin, Ireland, to a prominent Jewish family, one of the oldest continuous Jewish families in Ireland. The Solomons came over to Ireland from England in 1824. Bethel Solomons was the son of Maurice Solomons (1832–1922), an optician whose practice is mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses. His grandmother Rosa Jacobs Solomons (1833–1926) was born in Hull in England.

Bethel's elder brother Edwin (1879–1964) was a stockbroker and prominent member of the Dublin Jewish community. His sister Estella Solomons (1882–1968) was a leading artist, and a member of Cumann na mBan during the 1916 rising; she married poet and publisher Seumas O'Sullivan. His younger sister Sophie was a trained opera singer.

Career Solomons attended St. Andrews School in Dublin where he was very interested in rugby; He earned 10 international rugby caps for Ireland (1908–1910).

He studied medicine in Trinity College, Dublin,

Personal life He married Gertrude Levy in the liberal synagogue in London in 1916. His second son, Dr Michael Solomons (1919–2007) was a distinguished gynaecologist, a pioneer of family planning in Ireland, and a veteran of the bitter and divisive 1983 constitutional amendment campaign.

He was a friend of the founder of Sinn Féin and TD, Arthur Griffith. Solomons contributed to the purchase of a house for Griffith. Solomons was a founding member and the first president of the Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation.

Solomon was an art collector, including the works of Jean Cooke.