Consultant Psychiatrists

Dr Sarah Buckley

Dr Sarah Buckley (MB, BAO, BCh, MRCPsych, Msc) is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist working in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) since 2009.

She was the lead consultant setting up the first adolescent Dean Clinic in Dublin in 2009 and the Willow Grove Adolescent Unit inpatient service in 2010. She is now working as a Consultant in the Dean Clinic Cork outpatient service since 2016. She has experience of working with children, adolescents and their parents in outpatient, day hospital and inpatient services.

She is interested in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), youth mental health, service development and advocacy for young people. She has published on ADHD in children. She has extensive clinical experience working with adolescents and their families presenting with a wide range of psychiatric problems including anxiety, depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and ADHD.

Dr Una Dennison

Dr Una Dennison, MB BAO BCh MRCPsych MD, is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist working with St Patricks Mental Health Services since June 2018 following relocation from London where she worked with the National Health Service (NHS) as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. 

Dr Dennison has experience working with young people and their families across a wide variety of settings, including both outpatient, inpatient and liaison Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). She has experience leading a Neuro-Developmental/Learning Disability Team in the United Kingdom. Dr Dennison has a special interest in inpatient adolescent psychiatry and adolescent eating disorders and has spent time working in a specialist adolescent eating disorders unit at the Priory Hospital, London. She has also worked in Sydney, Australia.

Dr Dennison has a strong teaching background, having spent 18 months working as a clinical lecturer/tutor in psychiatry in University College Cork and has experience teaching a mixture of audiences at both under-graduate and post-graduate level, including post-graduate, medical and secondary school students, allied health professionals and GPs. She completed a Masters Degree by Research on immune dysfunction in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and has several publications relevant to this field.

She is a member of the College of Psychiatry of Ireland and is fully compliant with Continuous Professional Development (CPD) requirements.

Publications

Dennison U., Dinan T., 2012. “Schizophrenia patients with a history of childhood trauma have a pro-inflammatory phenotype”.  Psychological Medicine Feb 2012, 23: 1-7
Dennison U., Dinan T., 2012. “Menstrual Cycle influences toll-like receptor responses”. Neuroimmunomodulation 19: 171 – 179
Dennison U., Cassidy E., 2011. “The clinical correlates of lithium toxicity – a retrospective review”.  Irish Journal of Medical Science Vol 180; No 3, 661 – 665
Mc Kernan D., Dennison U., Dinan T., “Enhanced peripheral toll-like receptor responses in psychosis: further evidence of a pro-inflammatory phenotype”.  Translational Psychiatry Aug 2011: 1(8); e36.

Dr Conor Farren

Dr Dympna Gibbons

Dr Dympna Gibbons trained in medicine in National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG); undertook postgraduate training in psychiatry in the West of Ireland and National Higher Training Scheme; and completed a Master's degree in Cognitive Therapy in Trinity College Dublin. Dr Gibbons previously worked as a Lecturer in Communication Skills in NUIG and as a Consultant Psychiatrist with the Health Service Executive West, before joining the St Patrick's Mental Health Services' Dean Clinic Galway in 2011.

Dr Olivia Gibbons

Dr Susan Healy

Dr Susan Healy is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, currently working with St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS). She has worked as a consultant in outpatient and inpatient settings both in Cork and Dublin since 2012. She has been working with SPMHS’ adolescent services since August 2014.

She has a keen interest in cyberbullying and has completed published research in this area, looking at its effects on the mental health of young people.

She has also completed a Masters degree in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for children and adolescents with University College Dublin (UCD), and has been trained in Group-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Her other areas of interest include teaching, which expands to undergraduate students, postgraduate students, general practitioners and teachers.

Dr Healy has had the opportunity to work as a doctor abroad for three years and was based in Australia for two years and New Zealand for one year prior to returning to Ireland to complete her training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr Declan Lyons

Dr Declan Lyons Ph.D. M.Sc. M.R.C.P. (U.K.) M.R.C.Psych is a Consultant Psychiatrist at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services. He is a medical graduate of Trinity College Dublin and trained in General Medicine and Psychiatry in Dublin before undertaking specialist training in the Maudsley Hospital in London.

He has an interest in the mental health of older adults and works with a multidisciplinary team on Vanessa Ward, an acute older adults’ in-patient facility. He is Director of the Evergreen Programme - a therapeutic group psycho educational programme for the rehabilitation of older adults with mental health difficulties. He jointly conducts a memory assessment service in conjunction with the Psychology Department at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.

He lectures in psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin. His clinical and research interests include ethical issues as they impinge on psychiatric practice, medical education, psychological rehabilitation of older adults and service delivery and organisation.

In conjunction with other clinicians of the Vanessa Team, he has co-authored and edited the text “The Evergreen Guide – Helping People to Survive and Thrive in Later Years” published in 2014. He is Chairman of the Board of the Human Givens Institute in the UK, Ireland – representative of the Doctors’ against Forced Organ Harvesting and a Director of AWARE.

Dr Ruaidhrí McCormack

Dr Michael McDonough

Dr Michael McDonough graduated from Medicine in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in 1992, progressing to internship at the Adelaide/Meath Hospitals and medical training rotation at St James’ Hospital and attaining membership of the Irish College of Physicians in 1995. He completed the Dublin University Training Scheme in Psychiatry and Royal College of Psychiatrists Membership by 1997. He undertook higher specialist training at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, between 1999 and 2003, where he trained, researched and lectured in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and rotated through community and specialist psychotherapy and addictions services.

Dr McDonough was appointed Consultant Psychiatrist at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services in 2003, where he has specialised in CBT and anxiety disorders, becoming clinical lead of the Anxiety Disorders Programme in 2008 and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at TCD since 2018.

Education

MB BCH BAO BA Trinity College, Dublin 1992
MRCPI 1995
MRCPsych 1997
Fully Accredited CBT therapist (BABCP) 2001

Research and Publications

• Cognitive–behavioural therapy by psychiatric trainees: can a little knowledge be a good thing? Eric Kelleher, Melissa Hayde, Yvonne Tone, Iulia Dud, Colette Kearns, Mary McGoldrick, Michael McDonough. BJPsych Bull Feb 2015, 39 (1) 39-44
• Overcoming Obstacles in CBT. Chigwedere, Tone, Fitzmaurice and McDonough. Sage, London. 2012
• Computer-aided self-exposure therapy for phobia/panic disorder: a pilot economic evaluation. McCrone P, Marks IM, Mataix-Cols D, Kenwright, M McDonough M. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 2009 Jun;38(2):91-9..
• Clinical features and management of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) withdrawal: a review. McDonough M, Kennedy N, Glasper A, Bearn J. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2004; 75, 3-9.
• Saving clinicians' time by delegating routine aspects of therapy to a computer: a randomised controlled trial in phobia/panic disorder. Marks IM, Kenwright M, McDonough M, Whittaker M, Mataix-Cols D. Psychological Medicine, 2004; 34, 9-18. 
• Costs and benefits of a shared care register between primary and secondary health care for patients with psychotic disorders. M McDonough, G Thornicroft, W Barclay, C De Wet, S Kalidindi & T O’Brien. Primary Care Mental Health 2003; 1(1): 55-62. 
• Autonomic Response in Depersonalization Disorder. Sierra M, Senior C, Dalton J, McDonough M, Bond A, Phillips M, O’Dwyer AM & David AS. Archives of General Psychiatry, 2002 Sep; 59(9):833-8.
• Pharmacological management of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a review for clinicians. M McDonough & N Kennedy. Harvard Review of Psychiatry. 2002 May-Jun;10 (3):127-37. Review.

Prof Declan McLoughlin

Professor Declan M McLoughlin (PhD MRCPI MRCPsych FTCD) is Research Professor of Psychiatry in St Patrick's Mental Health Services (SPMHS) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

Education

Professor McLoughlin qualified in Medicine in 1986 from University College Dublin in Ireland. After training in general medicine, he trained in psychiatry, firstly in Dublin and then at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry (IOP) in London.

He obtained an Alzheimer's Society Training Fellowship (1994 to 1997) in the Department of Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry (IOP), followed by a Wellcome Advanced Fellowship (1997 to 2000), during which time he was awarded a PhD in Molecular Neuroscience for his work on Alzheimer’s disease amyloid precursor protein (APP) interacting proteins. After this, he was appointed as a Clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry in the Maudsley Hospital.

In 2007, he took up the new post of Research Professor of Psychiatry in TCD and SPMHS, and is also a Visiting Professor at the IOP. He is a consultant in old age psychiatry in SPMHS.

Research and Publications

Professor McLoughlin’s research interests include brain stimulation techniques for neuropsychiatric disorders, treatment resistant depression, and molecular psychiatry.  His current research is supported by grants from the Health Research Board and NARSAD (in the United States). See more on research activities here.

Dr Sorcha McManus

Dr Maria Morgan

Dr Maria Morgan is a Consultant in General Adult Psychiatry. She has a special interest in the treatment of severe and enduring mental illness, medico-legal psychiatry and traffic medicine.

Dr Morgan is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom and of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPsychI). She is a former Chair of the Faculty of Social and Rehabilitation Psychiatry in CPsychI. She was previously Lead Consultant Psychiatrist in the Tribunals Section of the Mental Health Commission.

Dr Sophia Morgan

Dr Aileen Murtagh

Dr Aileen Murtagh MB BAO BCh  MRCPsych MCPSychI MSc is a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and Assistant Medical Director with Special Responsibility for Adolescent Mental Health Services in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services. Her special interests include Gender Dysphoria, early onset psychosis, e-learning and mental health training for teachers. She has years of experience working with young people and their families in a wide variety of settings.

She has been involved in teaching a wide range of groups including GPs, teachers, Special Needs Assistants, educational psychologists, parents, allied health professionals, medical students, postgraduate psychiatric trainees and secondary school students. She has developed blended learning courses for the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland and interactive e-learning courses for teachers.

She has been a guest lecturer in UCD, Trinity College, Church of Ireland College of Education, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, NUIGalway and teacher education centres in Tallaght, Drumcondra and Athlone

Academic & professional qualifications

• Bachelor of Medicine, MB BAO BCh (Hons); National University of Ireland, Galway
• Masters in CBT for Children & Adolescents (First Class Hons) Msc
• Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (CSCST)
• Member of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland MCPsychI
• Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK MRCPsych

Research & publications

She has published and presented nationally and internationally on early onset psychosis, mental health training for teachers, ADHD and bipolar disorder. A few of these publications are listed below: 

Psychotic symptoms, functioning and coping in adolescents with mental illness.
Johanna Wigman, Nina Devlin, Ian Kelleher, Aileen Murtagh, Michelle Harley, Anne Keogh, Carol Fitzpatrick, Mary Cannon.
BMC Psychiatry 2014, 14:97 

Psychotic experiences in a mental health clinic sample: implications for suicidality, multimorbidity and functioning.
Ian Kelleher, Nina Devlin, Johanna Wigman, Anne Keogh, Aileen Murtagh, Carol Fitzpatrick, Mary Cannon.
Psychological Medicine 2013 Sep 12:1-10

Neurocognitive performance of a community-based sample of young people at putative ultra high risk for psychosis: Support for the processing speed hypothesis.
Ian Kelleher, Aileen Murtagh, Mary Clarke, Jennifer Murphy, Caroline Rawdon, Mary Cannon.
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry  2012 DOI:10.1080/13546805.2012.682363. 

Identification and Characterization of Prodromal Risk Syndromes in Young Adolescents in the Community: A Population-based Clinical Interview Study
Ian Kelleher, Aileen Murtagh, Charlene Molloy, Sarah Roddy, Mary Clarke, Michelle Harley, Mary Cannon
Schizophrenia Bulletin 2012; 38(2): 239-46 

Structural and functional brain correlates of subclinical psychotic symptoms in 11 to 13  year old schoolchildren.
Sarah Jacobson, Ian Kelleher, Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh, Mary Clarke, Mathieu Blanchard, Colm Connolly, Erik O’Hanlon, Prof Hugh Garavan, Prof Mary Cannon.
Neuroimage 2010 Jan 15; 49(2): 1875-85.

 Psychotic Symptoms in Children and Adolescents.
Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh, Ian Kelleher, Prof Mary Cannon.
In: Adolescent Schizophrenia, JT Nillinghouse & RP Trotman: Nova Science Publishers, Inc (US) 2009, pgs 39-52. 

Are Screening Instruments Valid for Psychotic-Like Experiences?
A Validation Study of Screening Questions for Psychotic-Like Experiences using In-Depth Clinical Interview.
Ian Kelleher, Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh Prof  Mary Cannon.
Schizophrenia Bulletin  First published online June 19, 2009 

Conduct disorder: psychiatry’s greatest opportunity for prevention.
Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh, Prof Mary Cannon.
Psychological Medicine 2008 Jul 38(7): 929-31

Dr Marie Naughton

Dr Marie Naughton  M.Sc. M.R.C.P. (U.K.) M.C.Psych I, MD,  has a special interest in the treatment of addiction to include harmful alcohol use and alcohol dependency and its effects on the individual and the family. She is skilled in the area of dual diagnosis where there is addiction alongside a mental health problem. She is the lead psychiatrist of the Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Programme at St Patrick’s University Hospital. She and her multidisciplinary team work with people with addiction bringing them through the phases of recovery from detoxification through to maintenance and recovery. She works at both inpatient and outpatient level and in her work keeps a strong focus on family involvement and support.  The ethos of the service is abstinence from the addicted substance/behaviour and this is promoted at all levels of care.

Other areas of interest are:

• Psychopharmacology of treatment-resistant depression
• Teaching and education of medical students and junior doctors
• Balint training for junior doctors
• Organisational change and risk management.

Academic Qualifications

• BSc. Pharmacology (First Class Honours); National University of Ireland, Galway
• Bachelor of Medicine, MB BAO BCh (Hons); National University of Ireland, Galway
• MD (Neuropsychopharmacology); University College Cork
• Masters in Organisational Change and Leadership Development; Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Dublin City University
• Diploma in Clinical Psychiatry; Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland & the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
• Graduate Diploma in Risk Management & Quality; University College Dublin
• Higher Diploma in Psychotherapy; University College Dublin

 Professional Qualifications and Memberships

• Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training in General Adult Psychiatry (CSCST- Medical Council, 2010)
• Member of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (2009)
• Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (2007)
• Member of the College of Physicians of Ireland (2004)

Dr Naughton has published many original research manuscripts and review articles in high impact peer review journals. The  full overview of Dr Naughton’s research publications is available online.

She completed her doctoral thesis for MD in 2014 researching the antidepressant effects of ketamine.  She has presented at many national and international conferences in the areas of Addiction, Neuropsychiatry, Healthcare Quality and Safety and Medical Education. She has undertaken many audits of service provision and she is currently Chair of the Audit Committee at St Patrick’s University Hospital. Overall she has established a significant research profile and subsequently has been invited as a scientific reviewer for a number of national and international journals. She is also the tutor for the Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (NCHDs) at St Patricks’ University Hospital.

Dr Séamus Ó Ceallaigh

Dr Sarah O'Dwyer

Dr Treasa O’Sullivan

Dr O’Sullivan graduated from UCC with an honours degree in 1997. She trained in psychiatry in Edinburgh where she practiced for 11 years prior to returning to her native Cork in 2010. Dr O’Sullivan has been working as the consultant psychiatrist in the Dean Clinic Cork since May 2010, where she oversees the multi-disciplinary team. The clinic was the first regional Dean Clinic opened by St Patricks University Hospital.

Dr O’Sullivan is a general adult psychiatrist. Her special interests are Eating Disorders and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. She is a member of both the Irish and Royal College of Psychiatrists and an accredited CBT therapist with the British Association of Behaviour Cognitive Psychotherapists.

Dr Clare O’Toole

Dr Sarah Prasad

Dr Gavin Rush

Dr Gavin Rush (MB BCh BAO MRCPsych HDip (Clinical Education) MA MD) has worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) since 2008.

He holds qualifications in Psychiatry (MRCPsych), Education (HDip Clinical Education, National University of Ireland Galway), Management (MA Healthcare Management, Institute of Public Administration) and a Doctorate in Medicine (University College Dublin (UCD)). He has specialist training in general adult psychiatry and social and rehabilitation psychiatry. He is a trained Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP®) facilitator. He has delivered an educational package to health practitioners in Albania on behalf of the World Health Organisation. He has an active interest in psychotherapy and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), personality disorder and depression. He is the current chair of the Personality Disorder Special Interest Group of the Irish College of Psychiatrists.

Education

Dr Rush undertook his undergraduate medical degree in UCD. He completed his basic specialist training on the Dublin University Psychiatric Rotational Training Scheme and his higher training on the National Higher Training Specialist Psychiatric Training Programme. He has obtained several additional qualifications as outlined above.

Research and Publications

Depression and Anxiety

Suicidal ideation is associated with elevated inflammation in patients with major depressive disorder. O'Donovan A, Rush G, Hoatam G, Hughes BM, McCrohan A, Kelleher C, O'Farrelly C, Malone KM. Depress Anxiety. 2013;30(4):307-14

The Psychiatrist (formerly Psychiatric Bulletin)

• Consent to ECT: patients’ experience in an Irish Clinic. Rush, McCarron, Lucey. Jan 2008;32:15-17
• Patient attitudes to electroconvulsive therapy. Rush, McCarron, Lucey. Jun 2007;31:212-214.
• Universal rights and mental illness in Ireland. Lyons and Rush. April 2004;28:114-116.
• Safety at work: a national survey of psychiatrists in basic training in the Republic of Ireland. Rush, Reidy, Wright, Campbell, Ryan, Molyneux, Ambikapthy, Leonard. 2008;32:256-258
• Psychiatric Training – A Dangerous Pursuit? Violence Experienced By Psychiatric Trainees At Work- The Evidence And The Safeguards. Molyneux G., Wright B., Rush G., et. al. 2009;33:189-192
• OCD patients benefit from group-based cognitive behavioural therapy. Kearns, Tone, Rush, Lucey. Effectiveness of group-based cognitive–behavioural therapy in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder 2010;34:6-9

Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine

• Recovery from mental illness: Changing the focus of mental health services. 2011;28(3):161-164
• Electroconvulsive therapy: International guidelines, clinical governance and patient selection. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine. 2007;24(3):103-107.

Irish Journal of Medical Science

• Elevated urinary levels of monocyte chemotactic peptide (MCP-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule – 1 (sVCAM-1) in human diabetic nephropathy.(Vol 168, Supplement 10,p.38 1999. Dr D Power, Dr Rush.)

Non-peer reviewed:

Old Age Psychiatrist

• The death of typicals? Newsletter of the Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age, Royal College of Psychiatrists; Autumn 2003: Number 31.

Forum

• Old Age and Depression, Journal of the Irish College of General Practitioners, August 2003

World of Irish Nursing

• Old Age and Depression, Journal of the Irish Nurses Organisation, October 2003.