A Strange Irish Art Story

James Miranda Barry - a close relative of the prominent 18th-century painter James Barry - died of dysentery, alone in a rented room in London. There was no post-mortem, and he was buried promptly, given the infectious nature of his final illness. Two weeks later the person who had helped lay out the doctor, popped up with the bizarre assertion that Dr Barry was a perfectly formed woman. This highly regarded army surgeon and humanitarian who had performed the first successful caesarean section known to British medicine and gave Florence Nightingale a piece of his mind, had fooled everyone. He was born Alice Bulkeley, to an Irish family of greengrocers, a niece of the prominent 18th-century painter James Barry. Disowned and destitute, Alice and her mother threw themselves on the mercy of their rich relation. The artist became the first of three influential patrons who enabled the teenage girl to become a young man with the resources, education and contacts to become a doctor before women were welcome in the profession. For the full story - click the title Irish Art