Kevin Izod O'Doherty
1823 — 1905
Kevin Izod O’Doherty (7‑58‑27)
O’Doherty was born in Dublin, son of solicitor William Dougherty and Anne McEvoy. He studied at the Catholic School of Medicine in 1844. He was convicted as a ‘Young Irelander’ and transported to Sydney in 1848 on the Mt Stewart Elphinstone and then on the Emma to Tasmania with fellow conspirators. After five years he was given a conditional pardon (not allowed to return to Ireland and went to Paris before marrying, in London, in 1855 writer Mary Eva Kelly of Galway (Eva of The Nation). Kevin and Mary are the subject of the book by Ross and Heather Patrick, Exiles Undaunted. In 1856 O’Doherty received a full pardon and went to Dublin to get his Medical Degree from 1857 to 1859.
They then migrated to Victoria in 1860 and to Brisbane where he set up practice in the Forbes Building at Ipswich in 1862. By 1866 he was the leading medical practitioner in George Street, Brisbane, and personal physician to Bishop Quinn. He was also the first President of the Queensland Medical Board.
He was an MLA in 1867 and MLC 1877—1885 and also returned to Ireland as the Nationalist Member for Meath 1885—1888. As a founding member of the Queensland Hibernian Society and the Queensland Irish Association, O’Doherty was well respected and presided over the St. Patrick’s Day Committee in the 1860s. The Queensland Irish Association raised this monument over his grave.
Doctor Kevin Izod O'Doherty (1823-1905) — State Library of Queensland.
St. Patrick's Day procession, Queen Street, Brisbane, 1903 — State Library of Queensland.
Headstone
Inscription
Sacred
to the memory of
Kevin Izod O'Doherty,
The Irish Patroit.
Died 15th July 1905, Aged 81 Years
Whose name will live in Irish history
and whise memory ever remains en-
shrined in Irish hearts at home and
abroad.
Also his gifted wiife
"Eva of the Nation"
Died 22nd May 1910, Aged 80 Years
Requiescant in pace
This monument is erected bu admirers
of the late Doctor O'Doherty and his wife,
as a mark of appreciation of their un-
sullied patriotism and exalted devotion
to the cause of Irish freedom.
Learn More
- Kevin Izod O'Doherty, convict Queenslander — State Library or Queensland
- Kevin Izod O'Doherty — Australian Dictionary of Biography