David Amyrald Armstrong Lane was a consultant surgeon to Sir Patrick Dun’s and Monktown hospitals, Dublin, Ireland and an accomplished musician. He was born in Bognor Regis, Sussex, the son of Samuel Armstrong Lane, a surgeon and GP who had served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in the First World War, and Dorothy Lane née Purefoy, who came from a prominent Dublin family. He was educated at Aravon School in Bray, County Wicklow and then at Oakham School in Rutland, where he was rugby and shooting captain and head prefect. He went on to study medicine at Trinity College Dublin, qualifying in 1950 with first place in all his subjects. As well as excelling academically, he played rugby at Trinity and was college champion of the 100 and 220 yards and the long jump. He trained in surgery at Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital, Leicester Royal Infirmary, the Royal United Hospital, Bath and then back at Leicester Royal Infirmary, gaining his fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and of Ireland in 1954. From 1956 to 1966 he was an assistant surgeon at Meath Hospital and the National Children’s Hospital, Harcourt Street in Dublin. He then moved to Sir Patrick Dun’s (until 1988). He was also a consultant surgeon at Monkstown Hospital (from 1957 to 1987). He was president of the surgical section of the Royal Irish Academy of Medicine from 1986 to 1988. Outside medicine, he was a distinguished oboist. For more than 30 years he played with the Dublin Baroque Players and also performed with the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and as a soloist. He also enjoyed fishing, sailing, poetry and gardening. In 1956 he married Marjorie Hammond, a nurse. They had two children – a daughter, Gillian, and a son, Peter. David Lane died on 17 October 2015. He was 88.