Andrew Rynne

Andrew Rynne
Born	(1942-05-18) May 18, 1942 (age 83) Prosperous, County Kildare
Nationality	Irish
Occupation(s)	General practitioner Surgeon
Years active	1973–present
Known for	Birth control supporter

Andrew Rynne is a retired Irish surgeon, medical practitioner and founder of Clane General Hospital in County Kildare. Rynne was the chairperson of the Irish Family Planning Association and the Republic of Ireland's first vasectomy specialist. ^[1] He was known for his liberal approach to birth control. ^[2]

Early life and education

Rynne was born on 18 May 1942 in Downings House in Prosperous, County Kildare. His father was Stephen Rynne, a writer, broadcaster, and author, while his mother, Alice Curtayne, was a writer, hagiographer, lecturer, linguist and scholar. ^[3] From 1961 to 1968, he attended Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. After graduation, Rynne emigrated to Canada with an internship with Hamilton Civic Hospital. ^[4]

Career

He started his general practise in Mitchell, Ontario from 1968 to 1973, where he was introduced to vasectomy. In 1970, he was appointed as the coroner for the Perth County, Ontario. In January 1974, he returned to Ireland and established a general practise in Clane, County Kildare. ^[5]

In 1975, Rynne joined Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and started doing vasectomies for them. In 1984, he sold condoms as an act of civil disobedience and got fined £500. ^[6] In the following year, he became the Chairman of IFPA. In the same year, he founded Clane General Hospital with the opposition from the Catholic Church and the local supporters. ^[7]

Shooting

In 1990, Rynne was shot by a former client. ^[8] According to Rynne, the gunman fired six or seven times with a .22 Long Rifle and shot him in the right hip. ^{[9] [10] [11]} The incident is the subject of a short film The Vasectomy Doctor by Paul Webster. ^[12]

Bibliography

• Smoking is Your Decision. Ward River Press 1982
• Abortion. The Irish Question. Ward River Press 1983 ^[13]
• The Vasectomy Doctor. Mercier Press 2005 ^[14]
• The Reverend Psychopath. Self-published, Amazon, 2023. A biography about Rev. Samuel Cotton and his wife Eliza who founded an orphanage in Kildare in 1866.
• The Foxhunter. To be published 2024. A novel based on a true story of medical negligence that gave rise to Ireland's Right to Die case 1995.

Cultural connections

Known in Irish traditional music circles as Andy Rynne, he was a source for several songs recorded by Christy Moore, including "The Dark Eyed Sailor" and "The Cliffs of Doneen". ^[15] Moore's album Prosperous was recorded in the basement of Downings House, the Rynne family home. ^[16]

See also

• Vasectomy

References

1. "Ireland's first vasectomy doctor tells how he was shot during surgery by an ex-patient". sundayworld. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
2. Mahon, Brian (5 March 2021). "Andrew Rynne suggests garda may have set up lockdown protest attacks". The Times . Retrieved 14 March 2021.
3. Long, Patrick (October 2009). "Rynne, Stephen". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
4. "Church's rigid approach to sex came from same source as those who later fought it". independent. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
5. Tallant, Nicola. "Doctor: my vasectomy shooting". The Times . Retrieved 25 March 2021.
6. Hogan, Senan (13 January 2021). "Controversial vasectomy doctor features in new TG4 series tonight". www.waterfordlive.ie. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
7. Hogan, Senan (13 January 2021). "New TG4 programme on Kildare vasectomy doctor Andrew Rynne to air tonight". www.kildarenow.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
8. "'I could look down the barrel of the gun. I could see the worm of the gun.' - RTÉ Radio 1 Highlights".
9. "Outlook - I was shot while performing a vasectomy". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
10. McDonnell, Mary (31 May 2015). "Vasectomy doctor tells how he is determined to help men with sexual health problems". Irish Mirror . Retrieved 25 March 2021.
11. "'The gunman fired at me six or seven times. He hit me in the right hip. I had a feeling that I had escaped with my life' - pioneering doctor Andrew Rynne on the day he nearly died". independent. 10 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
12. Jarlath Regan (26 May 2019). "Dr. Andrew Rynne". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast) (297 ed.). SoundCloud. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
13. Rynne, Andrew (1982). Abortion : the Irish question. Dublin: Ward River Press. ISBN   0-907085-36-9. OCLC   9904653.
14. Rynne, Andrew (2005). The vasectomy doctor : a memoir. Cork: Mercier Press. ISBN   1-85635-483-0. OCLC   65467277.
15. "Christy Moore - Prosperous (1980)". The Balladeers. Retrieved 20 February 2024. The Dark Eyed Sailor: This a song I learned from Andy Rynne of Prosperous, Co. Kildare... The Cliffs of Doneen: Another song from Andy Rynne
16. "Christy Moore - Prosperous (1980)". The Balladeers. Retrieved 20 February 2024. The album materialised some six months later in the vaulted cellars of Rynne's stately Georgian house at Prosperous in my native Kildare countryside.