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Ivor Browne, who had died aged 94, was a psychiatrist who transformed the public perception of mental illness in Ireland, overseeing the move away from crammed hospital wards and electro-convulsive therapy towards a holistic view of the human mind.
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His true legacy was the freedom enjoyed by thousands of people who avoided institutionalisation as a result of the reforms
Professor Ivor Browne, who has died aged 94, was a leading psychiatrist who held senior positions in the Irish health system and in the academic world as well as being a talented musician. Born on March 18, 1929 at 1 Sandycove Avenue in south Co Dublin, he was christened with the first names William Ivory. However, when he discovered later that “William Ivory” had been the name of a Cromwellian soldier who was given the lands of the Browne family in the townland of Mulrankin, Co Wexford, after Oliver Cromwell crushed the rebellion of 1649, the name Ivor became his preferred option.
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Dubliner transformed Irish attitudes to mental illness and developed understanding of the role of trauma
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The Irish psychiatrist at the heart of a new documentary has transformed our view of mental illness