Eric O'Malley ('Ted') was born in 1911 at Cork and was educated at Trinity College Dublin, obtaining his BA degree in 1932. He gained his medical qualifications in 1934, proceeded MCh in 1945 and in the same year obtained his Fellowship. As a student he played rugby and rowed for his college at Henley, while he trained in surgery in England, serving in the Emergency Medical Service in east London and Essex. Later in the war he volunteered for military service and commanded surgical divisions in Europe with the rank of major. He was consultant surgeon to the Prince of Wales, St Ann's and the Mile End Hospitals from 1952 to 1981. As a surgeon he was approachable, an excellent diagnostician and a good teacher, taking a full part in administration. Ted was a keen fly fisherman and also loved music, going to the opera even when he had almost lost his sight. He died on 29 September 1996 of carcinomatosis. Never losing his roots, he wanted his ashes to be scattered over his parents' grave in Cork. He was survived by his wife Eleanor, one daughter and two sons, one a consultant radiologist.