Pringle, (Robert) Brian (1906–87), physician, was born 4 June 1905 at 2 Herbert St., Dublin, second of three sons of Robert William Pringle (1871–1919), a Dublin barrister, and Alberta Pringle (née Henshaw). His older brother, Denis (qv), became a distinguished high court judge. Brian was educated at Castle Park School, Dalkey, then Haileybury College, Hertfordshire, and finally Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he entered through a classical scholarship. On entering university he decided to pursue a career in medicine, and on graduation became a clinical assistant in St Thomas's Hospital, London. He moved on to South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital as house surgeon before returning to Ireland to take up the position in 1931 of assistant medical officer to Guinness's brewery, later serving as chief medical officer (1952–73); he was also medical officer to the commissioners of Irish lights. A keen interest in occupational medicine led to his appointment as lecturer in occupational health at TCD. He wrote widely on the subject and contributed papers to journals in Ireland, Britain, and America and was later made an honorary fellow of the faculty of occupational health, TCD, and fellow of the faculty of occupational medicine at the RCPI (1978).
In 1934 he had become a member of the RCPI and a fellow of that body in 1937. In 1936 he joined the St John Ambulance Brigade as a surgeon, and he remained with it for the next fifty years, becoming its chief surgeon and serving as its president in 1974. He was the senior physician at Dr Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin for many years and between 1963 and 1966 served as president of the RCPI. An active member of many clubs and societies, he was a founder and trustee of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland, a trustee of the joint committee of the British Red Cross Society, a vice-president of the RAF Benevolent Fund, and an executive committee member of the Forces Help Society of the Republic of Ireland. In 1982 he was made a knight of the Order of St John. A keen and accomplished sportsman, he won the Fitzwilliam Plate for tennis (1932) and represented Ireland at squash four years later. In his later life he was also a keen golfer and was a regular in Portmarnock Golf Club. He remained a member of the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club and was also a member of the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire and the Kildare Street Club. Described as a kind, sympathetic, and modest man as well as an elegant, erudite, and dedicated physician, Brian Pringle died on 15 April 1987.
He married (1931) Inez (‘Jane’) Hope Travers, daughter of Capt. A. H. Travers of the Grenadier Guards; they had two daughters, Amanda and Gemma, and lived for most of their married lives in north Dublin.