Born at Kilmainham, Dublin, in August 1842, a nephew on his mother's side of Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator, who was at the time a prisoner in Kilmainham gaol. He was educated at Queen's College, Galway; at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; in Paris and Vienna. He received a commission as assistant surgeon, IMS on 31 March 1866 and served on the Bengal side, was promoted surgeon on 1 July 1873, surgeon-major 31 July 1878, and surgeon-colonel 2 April 1894. He saw service on the North-East Frontier at Daphla in 1874-75, and was later civil surgeon at Nimar. He was professor of anatomy in the Calcutta Medical College, and in 1892 succeeded Kenneth McLeod as professor of surgery and first surgeon to the Hospital. In 1894 he was appointed inspector-general of civil hospitals in the Punjab, and retired on 2 April 1899. He married in 1881 Katherine Mary Fox (d 1922), and had three daughters. His death took place at Lacks Yews, Mattingley on 29 December 1925.