Overview

Ó hÍceadha is a surname especially associated with the Kingdom of Thomond, where bearers of the name were in successive generations a medical family who were physicians to the clan

Clan

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

s of the Dál gCais

Dál gCais

The Dál gCais were a dynastic group of related septs located in north Munster who rose to political prominence in the 10th century AD in Ireland. They claimed descent from Cormac Cas, or Cas mac Conall Echlúath, hence the term "Dál", meaning "portion" or "share" of Cas...

, as well as other premier families of Munster

Munster

Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...

 and Leinster

Leinster

Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...

.

By tradition, the O'Hickeys were noted for brain surgery, especially the art of trepanning with silver plates the skulls fractures and other head injuries sustained in battle.

Doctors in the Hickey family were famous for their study of medicine and translated many Latin and Greek Medical textbooks over the centuries. In 1403 Nicholas Ó hÍceadha (with Boulger O'Callahan) wrote a commentary on the Aphorism

Aphorism

An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form.The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates...

 of Hippocrates

Hippocrates

Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...

, a fragment of which is still preserved in the British Museum, London. In 1489 Donnchad Óg Ó hÍceadha translated into Irish the works of contemporary European surgeons, an example being the work of Pietro d'Argeloto, the Chirurgia.

The British Museum also holds two further medical works of 1589 by Thomas Ó hÍceadha of Clare and one by Domhnall Ó Troighthigh for the O'Hickeys.

The best of the work is set forth in the Book of the O'Hickeys, now in the National Library of Ireland.

See also

• Nicholas Ó hÍceadha
• Donnchad Óg Ó hÍceadha
• Regimen na Sláinte
• Thomas Ó hÍceadha
• Antony Hickey
  Antony Hickey
  Antony Hickey was an Irish Franciscan theologian.-Life:...
  
  , 1586-1641, theologian
• Domhnall Ó Troighthigh
• Irish medical families
  Irish medical families
  Irish medical families were hereditary practitioners of professional medicine in Gaelic Ireland, between 1100 and 1700.-Overview:Professional medical practitioners in the Gaelic world of Ireland and Scotland was mainly the preserve of a small number of learned families who passed the profession...
  
  

External links

• http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=History&Surname=Hickey&UserID=
• http://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/II-XIV-1.php