Pioneer Cardiologist
1762 to 1832
Born in County Down, Black graduated as doctor of medicine from Edinburgh University in 1786. He set up his practice in Newry and, apart from a brief period in Dublin, stayed there for the rest of his life.
Black’s main contribution to medical science is his diagnosis and analysis of angina pectoris. He investigated those categories of people who were most, and least, subject to heart disease – among the former, the stressed, the obese and over-eaters; among the latter women, foot soldiers and the poor. His first published paper, of 1795, deals with the post-mortem examination of angina patients, which reveals “ossification of the arteries of the heart.” In 1817 he treated victims of a typhus epidemic in Newry and published a paper on this. He also carried out research in the fields of neurology, diabetes and public health. He died in 1832.<
Location of plaque: Marcus Square, Newry
Date of unveiling: 24 April 1994
Press Release: HERE