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The Greatest Irish Americans of the Century: Medicine

By Irish America Staff

November 1999

November 4, 1999 by Leave a Comment

Dr. Kevin Cahill

Born in the Bronx, New York, Dr. Kevin Cahill is the president general of the American Irish Historical Society, as well as a distinguished doctor whose patients have included Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and several UN Secretary Generals. He was the first American ever to receive the Grand Cross Pro Merito Melitersi, a papal award. Among his many other citations is a Georgetown University Bicentennial Medal.

On awarding him this honor in 1989, Georgetown paid Cahill a rare tribute. “He has ministered to the sick and suffering in Nicaragua, Libya, Lebanon, Somalia as well as to AIDS patients in New York City, recognizing that we shall save our fragile world only by relieving the pain and privation of individual men and women…. For his distinguished work as a physician, for his generous ministry to the suffering and destitute of the Third World, for his commitment to use his skills to bring peace, justice, and a decem life to all people on earth, Georgetown University…is honored to present its Bicentennial Medal to Dr. Kevin Cahill.”

In a review of one of his most recent book, A Bridge to Peace, The New York Times said, “Dr. Carill…commands our attention with the unmistakable authority of a journeyer returned from scenes of great suffering.”

In his 25 years as president general of the American Irish Historical Society, Cahill has refurbished its prestigious brownstone home on New York’s Fifth Avenue and has continued the effort to raise the awareness of Irish Americans of their cultural, history and ancestry.

He and his wife Katherine have five sons and four granddaughters. His son Christopher serves as editor of The Recorder, the journal of the AIHS.

Kathy and William MaGee

Kathy and William Magee. Editor’s Note: This photo is from the November 1999 issue of Irish America. The ‘e’ could not be edited out.

During the past 17 years, 45,000 children have received surgery for disfigurements such as cleft lip and palates, burn scars and clubfeet, thanks to Operation Smile. Founded in 1982 by plastic surgeon William P. Magee and his wife, Kathy, a nurse and social worker, Operation Smile now has a worldwide network of some 12,000 volunteers spanning 75 cities and nine countries and is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.

“Looking at a child with an ugly cleft lip and knowing that a 45 minute operation will change this life from one of rejection and shame to one of acceptance and joy deepens our commitment to work harder to raise public awareness, to recruit more volunteers, to develop more financial supporters, to train more surgeons in developing countries, and to heal more children,” said Dr. Magee.

This year, the organization’s World Journey of Hope ’99 brought an international team of 1,000 medical volunteers on a nine-week mission to the U.S. and 17 other countries to treat and transform the lives of some 5,000 children.

Dr. Magee, son of a doctor, brother of two doctors, and the second of twelve children, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. His maternal grandmother, a Murphy from Valencia Island, settled in Pennsylvania in the 1800s and married another native Irishman named Sugrue.

 

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the November 1999 issue of Irish America. ⬥

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