Robert Farnan

Who was Robert Farnan?

Robert P. Farnan was a gynaecologist, farmer, and senator from County Kildare in Ireland.

He was born at Batton, Castlemore, County Kildare and was educated at CBS Athy, St. Vincent's College, Castleknock and at the Royal University of Ireland. Farnan was Professor of midwifery in University College Dublin, and became first chairperson of the Medical Research Council of Ireland upon its establishment in 1937. He was also a gynaecologist to the Mater Hospital. He was successful and wealthy, owning houses in Merrion Square and Howth, a Cadillac and a Rolls-Royce, as well as Bolton Castle, a tower house and farm in Kildare, where he bred Aberdeen Angus bulls.

Éamon de Valera's son Terry wrote in 2006, "Perhaps of all my father’s friends and colleagues none were so close, nor had his trust as had Robert Farnan." Farnan's home was de Valera's first hideout in 1919 after his escape from Lincoln Gaol. He warned de Valera that his "external association" alternative to the Anglo-Irish Treaty was too subtle to persuade the public.