James Henry McManus 1797 : Short Biography

James Henry McManus was a physician in County Longford before, during, and after the famine years. He was born in County Cavan, probably the town of Virginia, where his father Henry McManus owned and operated a general store on Main Street. He began his long and distinguished medical career as a Licentiate of Midwifery in Rutland Square lying-in hospital Dublin in 1818, having attended the Royal College of Surgeons in Digges Street, Eccles Street and Jervis Street schools. (It should perhaps be noted that during this time period, lying-in hospitals were dangerous places to give birth. Germ theory had not yet been accepted and "childbed fever" often ran rampant through the lying-in hospitals, spread rapidly by physicians and midwives who worked on multiple patients without washing their hands or surgical tools.) Dr. McManus seems to have had an interest in pediatric medicine. He is the author of an essay "On Hooping Cough," deposited in Lib. F.P.S. Glasgow 1834.

One of his more detailed entries in the medical directories lists the following qualifications and postings:

L.F.P.S. Glasgow 1834 (Licentiate of Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons); Author of Essay ‘On hooping cough’ deposited in Lib. F.P.S. Glasgow 1834.

L.R.C.S. Edinburgh 1834 (Licentiate Royal College of Surgeons);  M.D. Kings Coll, Aberdeen 1857 ; M.D. Queen’s University, 1858

L.K.Q.C.P. (Licentiate Kings & Queens College of Physicians) Ireland 1860

Med. Ref. Scott. Prov. And Scott. Amic. Assur. Cos.

Late (for 10.5 years) Med.Off &c Abbeyshrule Disp. Dist and for 5 years Med. Off. Glasson Disp. Dist. And Constab. Formerly (16 years) Surg. Kenagh Disp. Dist. Med. Off. Finea Disp. Dist 1852;

Med.Off. under Board of Health in various districts during Cholera and Fever.

As of this writing, the identify of Dr. McManus's first wife (or wives) is unknown, but he had at least two children: Henry Edward McManus, born approximately 1817 (who also became a medical doctor), and Louisa Newcoma McManus, born 1830. The Newcomens were a prominent family in County Longford, and I wonder if "Newcoma" is a stylization or a transcription error for "Newcomen." This suggests that James Henry's wife may have been connected to the Newcomen family. If so, it is an interesting coincidence that his son Henry Edward married Margaret Morton, a woman whose stepmother was Charlotte Newcomen of Clonahard.

In 1868 Dr. McManus is listed as "Medical Officer of Dispensary District and Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages" for Abbeyshrule. Perhaps not coincidentally, he married a woman from Abbeyshrule in this year, Catherine Belton (nee Roberts), widow.

James Henry is listed in the medical directories in Ballymahon up to 1867, but in 1871 the listing changes to New Street, Longford town where he had evidently moved his practice. At this point he would have been 73 years old, so perhaps he was winding down his professional career. He died at his home in New Street in 1881 after a long illness "borne with Christian fortitude," survived by his widow, daughter, and several grandchildren.