Philip Crampton SmylyPHILIP CRAMPTON Smyly, who has died aged 92, was an influential figure in the Maritime Institute of Ireland and its National Maritime Museum following a successful career in medicine.
He was born in 1917 at a time when it was believed his father had perished aboard a torpedoed ship near west Africa. The report proved incorrect and in his later years Smyly often quipped that this must have been his induction into the maritime world.
At an early age, he was sent, along with his brother Bill, to live with his aunt who was married to the Church of Ireland Rector at Christ Church in Delgany, Co Wicklow. His stay in Ireland was interrupted in 1922 by evacuation to England due to the political situation in Ireland.
He was sent to the best schools and, in his own words, detested every minute of his school days in England. His dislike of cricket led him to take up rifle shooting, at which he proved a crack shot.
After school he returned to Ireland and studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, and his stories on his training experiences followed by internships in Baggot Street and Stevens Hospital would compete with any comedy incidents in Carry on Doctor.
During these years, he rowed for Trinity in junior and senior eights and was on the team which won the National Senior Championships. Some 60 years later when Trinity again won the senior championship, Dr Smyly and fellow surviving team mate, Dr Raymond Rees, were guests of honour at the official celebrations.
The boat he used is among the huge collection of artefacts at the National Maritime Museum in the Mariners Church, Dún Laoghaire.
In 1941, Smyly set up a medical practice in Portarlington, Co Laois, and the following year married Mary Hildick. The success of his professional practice can be judged by a tally of 365 babies born under his care one year.
While in Portarlington he also became involved in organising concerts, socials, rowing and all types of community events.
He was a founding member of the Portarlington Rifle Club, and regularly travelled North for competitions. In later years, he saw the irony of his car being loaded down with guns and ammunition while crossing the Border during the IRA Border campaign of 1956-62.
When he retired, the people of Portarlington threw a big party to mark the occasion and hung a banner across their main street wishing him and Mary a long and happy retirement.
They moved to Sandymount, in Dublin where he used his retirement years to pursue his interests. These included musical boxes, bonsai cultivation, the Irish Horticultural Society, the Dublin Horse Show, and painting, at which he competed with his wife. He also was a trustee of The Smyly Homes charity, founded by an ancestor, Ellen Smyly.
His latter years were steeped in the Maritime Institute of Ireland and in particular the Institute’s National Maritime Museum in Dún Laoghaire.
In the late 1990s when moves were afoot to move the museum to Dublin’s Docklands, Smyly was among the many who actively opposed this. He was one of the four delegates sent from a well attended protest meeting to meet then minister for culture Síle de Valera. After a study conducted personally by Smyly proved the proposed location was less accessible to the public and tourists than Dún Laoghaire, the proposal was dropped.
The Mariners Church was restored with government assistance and will reopen late this year as a state-of-the-art National Maritime Museum.
Predeceased by his wife in 2004, Smyly’s funeral took place on January 21st in the Pepper Canister church – St Stephen’s – on Mount Street in Dublin.
Dr Philip Crampton Smyly: born May 21st, 1917; died January 17th, 2010