Cust, Aleen

Aleen Cust (1868-1937)

Aleen Cust, veterinary surgeon, was born in Tipperary in 1868 where her father was a land agent to the Smith-Barry family. She was the first woman in the Britain or Ireland to complete veterinary science examinations from Edinburgh University but she did not get her degree until 1922 following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919. She returned to Ireland as assistant to Willie Byrne who had a veterinary practice in Roscommon.

Aleen Cust funded a scholarship administered by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. She died in Jamaica in 1937.