Last Friday, St John Ambulance was invited along for a private reception at Dublin City Library and Archive. The event was organised in recognition for the work done by all those that assisted with their current exhibition “Irish Women and The First World War”. St John Ambulance was the first national ambulance movement in Ireland and long before our national health service. The strain was put on the shoulders of the volunteers, who came together and setup an official welfare department and Invalid Transport Service department. These services became a crucial part of the early health service in Ireland and this was evidently seen during the war, when the War Office placed the entire humanitarian effort under the control of the St John Ambulance. The women outnumbered the men in membership, flooding the humanitarian effort with essential skills which were required in civil, auxiliary and military hospitals in Ireland and across parts of the world.
St John Ambulance archivist, Pádraig Allen has worked with Dublin City Council on a number of projects over the last four years.
The exhibition now live at Pearse Street, features on Kate Middleton Curtis who founded the women’s movement in St John Ambulance called City of Dublin Nursing Division. Originally men’s divisions were called “ambulance divisions” and women’s “nursing divisions”. This later changed and divisions were merged together. Today City of Dublin Division is the oldest division in Ireland, meeting weekly since 1905. Also at the exhibition is memorabilia such as badges and books which are on loan from St John Ambulance Archives. An exact replica nursing officer’s uniform from the period 1911-1923, is now on display at Pearse Street and was kindly made by Mrs. Martha Oman.
The photo shows our current Chief Staff Officer, Mrs. Martha Oman standing next to the uniform. Martha is our longest serving female member, serving almost 70 years with St John Ambulance. Also in attendance (from the left) Pádraig Allen (Archivist), Eileen Cronin (65 years’ service), Martha Oman, Carmel Howard (Superintendent of City of Dublin Division) and Mr. John Hughes (Commissioner of St John Ambulance Ireland).
