Staying In Anocht?

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Finné Andrew Rynne.

The story of Ireland’s first vasectomy doctor Andrew Rynne taking on the church in the 1980s.

On TG4 at 9.30pm.

Filmmaker Paddy Hayes writes:

This is Andrew (top) outside Naas courthouse in 1983 having been fined £500 for prescribing condoms to those without rings on their fingers. Why does he look so happy? Because it was Rynne himself who wrote to the DPP to inform them that he was prescribing contraceptives to sinners.

He wanted to draw attention to the hypocrisy of Haughey’s “Irish solution to an Irish problem” where contraception was only allowed for “bona fide family planning purposes”. It cost him £500, but the law was duly changed.

Finné Andrew Rynne  On TG4 at 9.30pm.

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24 thoughts on “Staying In Anocht?

  1. bdoyle

    ah i remember him well. he sat me back on a chair with a tv showing tourism ireland videos as the smell of burnt flash hit my nostrils. Then over to the shop to buy all the frozen peas available (and a sneaky pint in Jaz Maznors pub)

    1. Slightly Bemused

      I remember trying to go into the old pub section of Jaz Manzors, and the look I got from the other patrons. I got the impression young ones were not allowed :-)

  2. Cian

    1983!!
    Condoms only became easily available in 1989 or thereabouts – thanks Richard Branson!

    Gay Byrne showed the country how to use them – live on the Late Late in 1987 and there was an uproar!

    Anyone that thinks Ireland is a bad place to live today should remember what a Church-fearing-God-forsaken hole it was in the 80s.

    1. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

      because it used to be worse we should be grateful ?
      that logic always pees me off

      1. Cian

        I didn’t say that. But, yes, grateful we aren’t still in the 80s.

        I’m not saying (and never have) that Ireland is perfect…. we can and should strive to improve things. But it is a hell of a lot better today than 20, 40, 60 years ago.

        1. Redundant Proofreaders Society

          It is. In the 1980s, abstinence was still the moral message when it came to sexual relations, while activities such as rape, battery, excessive drinking, drink-driving and business/political corruption were deemed societal norms.

          There was once a RTE (?) documentary on the period of change during the 1990s that involved Father Ted, Riverdance, EU expansion, the divorce referendum, clerical scandals, a high population of young adults, the fight for gay rights and the X-case as all contributing in their own way to a shake-down of Irish society and ‘coming of age’. Like a conglomerate of hot spices in a curry. Fascinating and a privilege to have witnessed it. Peppered with deep sympathies to victims, naturally.

    2. George

      i once got hit in the balls with a football. You should all be grateful you didn’t get hit in the balls with a football today.

  3. GiggidyGoo

    Why does a[insert inhabitant of county] man put ice in his?
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    To keep down the swelling

  4. Slightly Bemused

    He scarred me for life!

    Admittedly if he had not done his excellent stitching work I would probably look more like Frankenstein’s monster today :-)

    He moved his surgery around the town a little as rent probably dictated. One place became a shop where many ladies (and a few men) made up lingerie for a certain nationwide store.

    Worst bedside manner on the planet, you got no sympathy, but you got the truth. Somehow that was better.

      1. Slightly Bemused

        My sister, who held me while this was going on, said it was the long drawn out ‘Ooooh’ that undid her, but I did not move. Most people who have known me for years are surprised when the scar pops out – usually when I am either hot or bothered.

        1. Papi

          Since he’s was a vasectomy doctor, you really need to be more specific in this instance, bemused. When the scar pops out could be taken quite incorrectly.

          1. Slightly Bemused

            He was a GP before he went under. He stitched up my eyebrow after a fateful encounter with a flying mop head.

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