Dr Samuel Crumpe born in Rathkeale in 1766. He studied medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Returning to Limerick in 1788, he worked in St. John’s Hospital which had only been founded in 1780 by Lady Lucy Pery Harstonge.
He married Susanna Ingram in 1792, they had a son (who did not live past infancy) and a daughter.
He was a made freeman of Limerick in 25 June 1792. Dr. Crumpe’s work on opium provided an experimental basis for classifying the drug as a stimulant rather than a narcotic. He died on the 27 January 1796 aged 29 of typhus which he contracted from a patient.
He is buried in St. Mary’s Cathedral Graveyard. Part of the inscription on his tomb reads
“Were his contemporaries to live forever monuments of his talents, it would be unnecessary to eternize his name. But as they also must descend into the grave, it is a just due to the memory of departed worth to inform posterity that beneath this stone is interred a man who to eminent talents, profound judgements and extensive knowledge, added integrity of the heart, benevolence of the disposition and suavity of manners. As a son, a husband, a parent, a friend, his conduct was such as to merit the tenderest love of those with whom he was connected, the warm approbation and esteem of all to whom he was known”
The following is an extract from Dr Samuel Crumpe’s diary of 1795 in which he kept track of the weather each day of that year, monitoring the barometer reading, wind direction, thermostat reading (from March onwards) and general remarks. The temperatures given are in Fahrenheit. 50 degrees Fahrenheit equals 10 degrees Celsius.
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Jan – Feb – Mar – Apr – May – Jun – Jul – Aug – Sep – Oct – Nov – Dec
The following are the entries from his weather diary of 1795 for May
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