Eleanora Fleury

Eleonora Fleury was born in Manchester in 1867. Her father was Charles Robert Fleury, who was a doctor/surgeon. She was home schooled. She attended the Royal University of Ireland and in 1887 came first in the list of the examinations in medicine and was commended in the Dublin Medical Press. She became the first woman to graduate in medicine from the Royal University of Ireland, with MB first-class honours and a first-class exhibition in 1890 and then MD degree and a Gold Medal in 1893. ==Work==

Fleury became a successful psychiatrist, as well as the first woman to join the Medico-Psychological Association (MPA), now known as the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Following qualification, she worked at the Homerton Fever Hospital in London for a year before returning to Ireland to work at the Richmond District Asylum at Grangegorman for 27 years. This was the largest asylum in Ireland. While at the Richmond Asylum she was not only involved in treating patients but she was also with teaching nurses and attendants who were studying for the new certificate of proficiency Mental Nursing. She published scientific papers including Agitated Melancholia in Women, which was read at the 1895 Irish Divisional meeting of the Medico-Psychological Association. In 1923, she was arrested and imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. While in prison she served as medical officer to the republican prisoners. She became concerned about the women inmates' medical welfare and after her release she continued to advocate for improved conditions for women prisoners. On her release, she returned to her duties at Portrane. ==Death==

She lived in Upper Rathmines Road in Dublin and led an active life until her death in 1960. She is buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery in Harold's Cross, Dublin. ==Legacy==

An exhibition on the Women of the Peninsula or "Mná Na Leithinse" celebrated Fleury's work and achievements during the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival at the Donabate and Portrane peninsula on 8 March 2017. ==References==