UHW Surgeon leads Waterford St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Its organisers Waterford City and County Council chose one of University Hospital Waterford (UHW)’s best known faces as the Grand Marshall to lead this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the city.

When the annual procession got under way from the Bus Station on the Quay at 1pm on Tuesday 17th of March, the honour of leading it out fell to the HSE Dublin and South East’s Consultant Vascular Surgeon and Clinical Director/Surgical at UHW Mr. Morgan McMonagle.

Morgan McMonagle was the 2025 recipient of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Humanitarian and Community Award for his commitment and service to protecting the lives of others and the welfare of humanity.

A native of Co. Cavan, Morgan McMonagle spent the early years after qualification in Sydney, Australia and completed a trauma and emergency surgery year at Westmead Hospital there. Following that, while completing research, Morgan also trained with and worked for an aeromedical company. It included rescues and on scene medical treatments.

Upon moving to the UK, Mr. McMonagle completed his general and vascular surgery training at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. It features a military wing, where injured soldiers from the Gulf War and Afghanistan were evacuated to for surgery and rehabilitation. Mr. McMonagle subsequently relocated to Philadelphia, USA to complete a Fellowship in Trauma Surgery.

Upon returning to the UK, Mr. McMonagle worked as Trauma Consultant for the newly established trauma network at St Mary’s Hospital, London. While in St Mary’s and through lecturing in Imperial College London, Mr. McMonagle met Professor David Nott, a general and vascular surgeon who had experience volunteering in disaster and conflict zones and who subsequently established the David Nott Foundation, which trains doctors in countries impacted by conflict and catastrophe.

Mr. McMonagle had moved to take up a position at University Hospital Waterford in 2012 before undertaking a first mission with the Foundation, when he travelled to the West Bank in Palestine.

Since then, Mr. McMonagle has been to Ukraine twice and to Lebanon.

Mr. McMonagle has featured in national and international media, speaking in relation to three missions he served in Gaza. During time spent there in the Spring of last year, Mr. McMonagle was working in the Intensive Care Unit of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis when it was bombed. Mr. McMonagle returned to the same hospital in the autumn of 2025, where despite the ceasefire his patients included those injured in ongoing air strikes in Gaza.

Mr. Morgan McMonagle, in addition to his role as a valued Consultant Surgeon and leadership team member at University Hospital Waterford, has also served as the HSE’s lead for mass casualty planning.